An "I Quit" match is a type of professional wrestlingmatch in which the only way to win is to make the opponent say the words "I quit" (usually into a microphone).[1] It is a variation of submission match, as it can only be won by submission, but is special in that the submission has to take the form of the forfeiting opponent saying "I quit". Generally, whenever a wrestler knocks down his opponent with a move or inflicts a submission move, the opponent will be asked – either by the referee or the opponent – to say the words into a microphone. "I Quit" matches are commonly used to settle kayfabe grudges and embarrass rivals, since saying "I quit" is usually a sign of admitted inferiority.

One of the most famous "I Quit" matches took place on January 24, 1999, at the Royal Rumble between The Rock and Mick Foley (as Mankind) in the World Wrestling Federation. The match lasted just over 20 minutes, ending after Foley took eleven unprotected chair shots to the head while his hands were handcuffed behind his back. The Rock eventually won the match, but it was later revealed that Foley was completely unconscious and The Rock had played a tape of Foley saying "I quit" over the PA system.[1] The match the following evening between Triple H and The Rock ended in a completely different way – Triple H was extorted into saying "I quit" because Kane was about to chokeslam Chyna. John Cena retained his WWE Championship by defeating John "Bradshaw" Layfield in an "I Quit" Match at Judgment Day on May 22, 2005.

"I Quit" matches involving women have been rare. At No Mercy 2003 held an intergender match between WWE chairman Mr. McMahon and his daughter Stephanie partly under "I Quit" rules. However, the match was decided when Stephanie's mother Linda threw in the towel for her daughter, giving Vince the victory.[1] The first "I Quit" match between WWE Divas was contested at One Night Stand in 2008, when Beth Phoenix defeated Melina.

1.
Professional wrestling
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Professional wrestling is an athletic form of entertainment that portrays a combat sport. Various forms of weaponry are sometimes used, the content – including match outcomes – is scripted and choreographed, and the combative actions and reactions are performed to appear violent without injuring the wrestlers. Before the 1980s, these facts were considered trade secrets, in the mid-90s, the presentation of scripted events as legitimate is known as kayfabe. Although the combative content is staged and communicated between the wrestlers, there are physical hazards involved - including permanent injury and death. While it has declined in Europe, in North America it has experienced several different periods of prominent cultural popularity during its century. The advent of television gave professional wrestling a new outlet, unlike in Europe, show wrestling has become especially prominent in Japan and in North America. In Brazil, there was a popular wrestling television program from the 1960s to the early 1980s called Telecatch. High-profile figures in the sport have become celebrities or cultural icons in their native or adopted home countries, although professional wrestling started out as petty acts in sideshows, traveling circuses and carnivals, today it is a billion-dollar industry. Revenue is drawn from live event ticket sales, network television broadcasts, pay-per-view broadcasts, personal appearances by performers, branded merchandise, pro wrestling was also instrumental in making pay-per-view a viable method of content delivery. Annual shows such as WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, and formerly Bash at the Beach, Halloween Havoc, home video sales dominate the Billboard charts Recreational Sports DVD sales, with wrestling holding anywhere from 3 to 9 of the top 10 spots every week. Due to its persistent cultural presence and to its novelty within the performing arts, there have also been many fictional depictions of wrestling, the 2008 film The Wrestler received several Oscar nominations and began a career revival for star Mickey Rourke. Because actual events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines for the performers, special care must be taken when talking about people who perform under their own name. The actions of the character should be considered fictional events, wholly separate from the life of the performer and this is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers will incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and those who participated felt that it was necessary that spectators should be kept in a constant and complete illusion of a real competition to keep audience interest. For decades, up until the mid-1980s, wrestlers lived their lives as though they were their characters. Wrestlers, bookers and promoters all rigorously enforced the illusion and very few were allowed into the society of professional wrestling to maintain suspension of disbelief. The practice of keeping the illusion, and the methods used to do so, came to be known as kayfabe within wrestling circles. An entire lexicon of slang jargon and euphemism developed to allow performers to communicate without outsiders knowledge of what was being said, occasionally a performer will deviate from the intended sequence of events

2.
Professional wrestling match types
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Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called concept or gimmick matches in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some of them occur relatively frequently, while others are developed so as to advance an angle, because of professional wrestlings long history over decades, many things have been recycled. These match types can be organized into several loose groups, the singles match is the most basic of all professional wrestling matches, which involves only two competitors competing for one fall. Victory is obtained by pinfall, submission, knockout, countout or disqualification, commentators and bookers generally explain it as saying the challenger must beat the champion. Playing into this, some storylines have heel champions protect their titles by losing in such ways. Time Limit matches were invented during the days of professional wrestling as a way to stop matches that went on for too long. A Battle of Respect is often held in tribute to another wrestler, on most occasions, one member of the team competes in the ring with one or more of his/her teammate standing behind the ropes. Wrestlers switch positions by tagging one another, usually similar to a five and, as a result. This can create tension during the match as a wrestler in the middle of the ring attempts to reach his/her teammate. In typical tag team matches, standard wrestling rules apply with an ending by pinfall, submission, countout. Promotions usually have established tag teams that most often compete in team matches rather than singles matches, though teams will often break up to pursue a singles career, teams often consist of real-life friends or relatives. On other occasions, teams are booked together by promoters based on their face or heel alignment in order to increase the amount of wrestlers on the card or to advance multiple storylines at once. Though common in Mexican lucha libre, at one point, World Championship Wrestling had a championship for teams of three, matches in which the entire team competes at once is often referred to as a tornado tag match, specifically in WWE. Matches can be held under standard rules or as a specialty match, such as a cage match or a ladder match. One famous example of this match is the Survivor Series match held in WWE at their annual Survivor Series pay-per-view, teams of four or five, though on some occasions as many as seven, compete under elimination rules. All other standard rules apply, and team members may tag in, while some teams are already established stables, others may need to recruit members for their team. In lucha libre promotions, a torneo cibernetico is a type of match between teams of up to eight wrestlers who enter in a predetermined order. A Winner Takes All match is a match where both wrestlers are champions going into the match, and the winner receives the championship of the loser and this is not the same as a championship unification match

3.
Microphone
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A microphone, colloquially nicknamed mic or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Several different types of microphone are in use, which employ different methods to convert the air pressure variations of a wave to an electrical signal. Microphones typically need to be connected to a preamplifier before the signal can be recorded or reproduced, in order to speak to larger groups of people, a need arose to increase the volume of the human voice. The earliest devices used to achieve this were acoustic megaphones, some of the first examples, from fifth century BC Greece, were theater masks with horn-shaped mouth openings that acoustically amplified the voice of actors in amphitheatres. In 1665, the English physicist Robert Hooke was the first to experiment with an other than air with the invention of the lovers telephone made of stretched wire with a cup attached at each end. German inventor Johann Philipp Reis designed an early sound transmitter that used a strip attached to a vibrating membrane that would produce intermittent current. Better results were achieved with the transmitter design in Scottish-American Alexander Graham Bells telephone of 1876 – the diaphragm was attached to a conductive rod in an acid solution. These systems, however, gave a poor sound quality. The first microphone that enabled proper voice telephony was the carbon microphone and this was independently developed by David Edward Hughes in England and Emile Berliner and Thomas Edison in the US. Although Edison was awarded the first patent in mid-1877, Hughes had demonstrated his working device in front of many witnesses some years earlier, the carbon microphone is the direct prototype of todays microphones and was critical in the development of telephony, broadcasting and the recording industries. Thomas Edison refined the carbon microphone into his carbon-button transmitter of 1886 and this microphone was employed at the first ever radio broadcast, a performance at the New York Metropolitan Opera House in 1910. In 1916, E. C. Wente of Western Electric developed the next breakthrough with the first condenser microphone, in 1923, the first practical moving coil microphone was built. The Marconi Skykes or magnetophon, developed by Captain H. J. Round, was the standard for BBC studios in London and this was improved in 1930 by Alan Blumlein and Herbert Holman who released the HB1A and was the best standard of the day. Also in 1923, the microphone was introduced, another electromagnetic type, believed to have been developed by Harry F. Olson. Over the years these microphones were developed by companies, most notably RCA that made large advancements in pattern control. With television and film technology booming there was demand for high fidelity microphones, electro-Voice responded with their Academy Award-winning shotgun microphone in 1963. During the second half of 20th century development advanced quickly with the Shure Brothers bringing out the SM58, digital was pioneered by Milab in 1999 with the DM-1001. The latest research developments include the use of optics, lasers and interferometers

4.
Submission match
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Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called concept or gimmick matches in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some of them occur relatively frequently, while others are developed so as to advance an angle, because of professional wrestlings long history over decades, many things have been recycled. These match types can be organized into several loose groups, the singles match is the most basic of all professional wrestling matches, which involves only two competitors competing for one fall. Victory is obtained by pinfall, submission, knockout, countout or disqualification, commentators and bookers generally explain it as saying the challenger must beat the champion. Playing into this, some storylines have heel champions protect their titles by losing in such ways. Time Limit matches were invented during the days of professional wrestling as a way to stop matches that went on for too long. A Battle of Respect is often held in tribute to another wrestler, on most occasions, one member of the team competes in the ring with one or more of his/her teammate standing behind the ropes. Wrestlers switch positions by tagging one another, usually similar to a five and, as a result. This can create tension during the match as a wrestler in the middle of the ring attempts to reach his/her teammate. In typical tag team matches, standard wrestling rules apply with an ending by pinfall, submission, countout. Promotions usually have established tag teams that most often compete in team matches rather than singles matches, though teams will often break up to pursue a singles career, teams often consist of real-life friends or relatives. On other occasions, teams are booked together by promoters based on their face or heel alignment in order to increase the amount of wrestlers on the card or to advance multiple storylines at once. Though common in Mexican lucha libre, at one point, World Championship Wrestling had a championship for teams of three, matches in which the entire team competes at once is often referred to as a tornado tag match, specifically in WWE. Matches can be held under standard rules or as a specialty match, such as a cage match or a ladder match. One famous example of this match is the Survivor Series match held in WWE at their annual Survivor Series pay-per-view, teams of four or five, though on some occasions as many as seven, compete under elimination rules. All other standard rules apply, and team members may tag in, while some teams are already established stables, others may need to recruit members for their team. In lucha libre promotions, a torneo cibernetico is a type of match between teams of up to eight wrestlers who enter in a predetermined order. A Winner Takes All match is a match where both wrestlers are champions going into the match, and the winner receives the championship of the loser and this is not the same as a championship unification match

5.
Submission (combat sport)
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A submission is a combat sports term for yielding to the opponent, and hence resulting in an immediate defeat. In some combative sports where the fighter has cornermen, the corner can also stop the fight by throwing in the towel, which may count as a submission. A technical submission may occur when the referee or doctor stops the fight because a fighter has sustained an injury or is rendered unconscious while in a submission hold, an example would be a fighters arm breaking in an armbar, or a fighter passing out in a choke hold. In both cases the fighter is unable to tap out, and an official decides that the fighter cannot safely continue to fight, such a match outcome may be called a technical submission or a technical knockout depending on the rules of combat used for the match. In UFC, a submission is recorded as a submission

6.
Kayfabe
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Kayfabe has also evolved to become a code word of sorts for maintaining this reality within the direct or indirect presence of the general public. In relative terms, a wrestler breaking kayfabe during a show would be likened to breaking character by an actor on-camera, in 1989, World Wrestling Federation owner Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey state senate that wrestling was staged. The characters assumed by wrestlers can be distinguished into two alignments, faces and heels, faces usually win their matches on the basis of their technical skills and are sometimes portrayed as underdogs to enhance the story. Heels are villainous or antagonistic characters, whose personalities are crafted to elicit a response from the audience. They often embrace traditionally negative traits such as narcissism, egomania, unprompted rage, sadism, a wrestler may change from face to heel in an event known as a turn, or gradually transition from one to the other over the course of a long storyline. Matches are usually organized between a heel and a face, but the distinction between the two types may be blurred as a characters storyline reaches a peak or becomes more complicated. Indeed, in recent years, several wrestlers became characters that were neither faces nor heels, many storylines make use of kayfabe romantic relationships between two performers. Very often, both participants have other real-life relationships, and the relationship between the two is simply a storyline. However, more than once, kayfabe romantic relationships have resulted either from a real-life relationship, tag teams of wrestlers, who may or may not look alike, are often presented as relatives, though they are not actually related. Examples include The Brothers of Destruction, The Holly Cousins and The Dudley Brothers, brother tag teams were commonly utilized in years past as a means to develop young talent, by pairing them with a veteran wrestler and giving the younger wrestler a rub by virtue of the association. Sometimes wrestlers will sell a kayfabe injury by not appearing at the following show, other times, a real injury is sometimes used later on as a storyline. One way is for the injured to come back and blame someone else for injuring them, even when the feud was not initially planned out at all, to give a sort of closure to the injury time out. These returns are often given a date in order to increase viewership and ticket sales. Occasionally, though, a return will not even be advertised. Through kayfabe, wrestlers often quit, get fired, or lose challenges with their job at stake only to return at a future time. These types of matches are used when a wrestlers contract is up or to give them some time off to recover from a legitimate injury. There have been examples of breaking kayfabe throughout wrestling history. It is rare for kayfabe to be dispensed with totally and the events acknowledged as scripted, often the break may be implied or through an allusion and standards tend to vary as to what is a break

7.
National Wrestling Alliance
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The National Wrestling Alliance is a professional wrestling governing body which has historically been the largest league of independent wrestling promotions in the world. The organization sanctions various NWA championship bouts within its member promotions, the NWA has been in operation since 1948. Prior to the 1960s, it acted as the governing body for most of professional wrestling, operating as a talent. Before the NWA was founded in 1948, there existed many regional professional wrestling promotions across North America, none of them, however, had backing or recognition outside of their own respective geographic base-areas. The concept of the NWA was to consolidate the championships of these companies into one true world championship of pro wrestling. In 1948, Paul Pinkie George, a promoter from the Midwest and this newly formed NWA Board of Directors wanted Brown to be the first-ever NWA World champion. This legitimized the NWAs claim that its title was a world title. The NWA members divided up North America, as well as Japan, into territories that each promoter would own, having a territory meant that no other NWA member could promote wrestling in that area unless special arrangements were made between the promoters involved. If non-NWA promoters tried to promote their show in an NWA territory, reportedly, threats of violence or physical retaliation were used against any promoters who disregarded the territory system. If any member territory broke the NWAs rules, it faced expulsion, for most promoters under the NWA umbrella, the benefits of membership were well worth the dues. Usually, the NWA Presidents territory was the territory of the entire alliance. Beyond the benefit of having other promotions to draw on in case of an intruder, the champion did not have a home territory as such, but instead traveled from territory to territory, defending the title against the top stars of each territory. It was not just the champion that would travel the territories, often, wrestlers from a different area would come into a territory, and run an angle or two with its top local faces. Also, if the local fans ever got tired of a wrestler, he could go to a new area and perform the same act for new audiences. This storyline was often advanced in the area from which the competitor was departing as resulting from the outcome of a highly promoted loser leaves town match. Upon becoming the booker for Lou Thesz in 1950, Muchnick, in the mid-1950s, serious disputes broke out within the NWA. There were antitrust problems with the government and there were a number of competing factions who wanted to replace Thesz as champion with different wrestlers, the antitrust case led to the infamous NWA Consent Decree of 1956 in U. S. v. National Wrestling Alliance. There were also disputes over the number of dates wrestled by the champion in various parts of the country, the first break within the organization occurred in 1957, when Montreal promoter Eddie Quinn walked out of the August NWA meeting in St. Louis

8.
Jim Crockett Promotions
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Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. was a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1931, the promotion emerged as a cornerstone of the National Wrestling Alliance, by the 1980s, Jim Crockett Promotions was, along with the World Wrestling Federation, one of the two largest promotions in the United States. The Crockett family sold a majority interest in the promotion to Turner Broadcasting System in 1988, Jim Crockett was a promoter of live events including professional wrestling, music concerts, plays, minor league baseball, and ice hockey. In 1931, he founded his own wrestling promotion, Jim Crockett Promotions. Crockett built JCP as a regional promotion centred on the Carolinas, although the business was always called Jim Crockett Promotions, it used a variety of pseudonyms as brand names for specific TV shows, newspaper and radio ads, and even on event tickets, themselves. Crockett joined the National Wrestling Alliance in 1952, and his territory covered Virginia, North Carolina, the name Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling became JCPs primary brand name in print, radio, and other advertising. Two years later, JCP introduced the Wide World Wrestling brand name, JCP used the Wide World/World Wide and Mid-Atlantic brands concurrently. The business was incorporated in the 1950s and he left JCP to his family, with his eldest son, Jim Crockett, Jr. taking over as chief executive. In 1981, JCP moved to the WPCQ-TV studios in Charlotte, the local shows hosted by announcers like Big Bill Ward and Charlie Harville gave way to Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. Mid-Atlantic was hosted by Bob Caudle Caudle was joined by a rotation of co-hosts, for a brief period, a secondary show, East Coast Wrestling, was taped at WRAL, it was basically a re-packaged version of Mid-Atlantic, and was announced by Big Bill Ward. In 1975, JCP premiered a new, syndicated B-show, Wide World Wrestling, the original host of this show was former Georgia Championship Wrestling announcer Ed Capral. Subsequent Wide World/World Wide announcers included Les Thatcher, George and Sandy Scott and it was also hosted by the team of Rich Landrum and Johnny Weaver. Rich Landrum and David Crockett appeared on Best Of, doing interviews for local arena shows. JCP gradually began to expand, running shows in eastern Tennessee, parts of West Virginia, in the late-1970s and early-1980s, JCP ran regular shows in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio. Crockett and Scott also bought minority shares of Frank Tunneys Toronto-based promotion, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling also aired on a Buffalo, New York station, enabling the Tunney/Crockett/Scott enterprise to bring a full slate of shows to Ontario and upstate New York. In the 1980s, Crockett, Jr. began consolidating the Southern franchises of the National Wrestling Alliance, in August 1980, Crockett, Jr. was elected president of the NWA. In 1981, former Georgia Championship Wrestling booker Ole Anderson took over as Mid-Atlantics booker, in 1981, Anderson booked both JCP and GCW simultaneously. In 1982, Crockett partnered with wrestlers Ric Flair and Blackjack Mulligan to start a company out of Knoxville, Tennessee

9.
Starrcade (1985)
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Starrcade was the third annual Starrcade professional wrestling event produced by Jim Crockett Promotions under the National Wrestling Alliance banner. It took place on November 28,1985 from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina and The Omni in Atlanta and it aired live on closed-circuit television. The main event was between Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and their feud escalated when Flair broke Rhodes ankle in September. After the event, Flair formed the Four Horsemen stable, the main feud heading into Starrcade was between Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Flair was in his reign as the champion, and his reign at the time had lasted for over a year. On September 29 at the Omni in Atlanta, after Flair defeated Nikita Koloff in a cage match, Nikita and Ivan Koloff attacked Flair until Rhodes came. Ole and Arn Anderson then came, and, along with Flair, Flair broke Rhodes left ankle with a diving knee drop, and applied the figure four leglock. However sportscaster Dick Vitales father Lou, and Nicky Joachim of Parlin both ran to the ring and pulled Flair off of Rhodes and threw Ole and Arn Anderson out of the ring thus saving Rhodes, teddy Longs wife was the referee for that match. It was the first time an event was broadcast live from two locations, in 1985, the World Wrestling Federation was an emerging competitor to Jim Crockett Promotions, and created the WrestleMania event, which had significant success. The following years WrestleMania, WrestleMania 2, was created similar to Starrcade, the first match of the event was between Krusher Khruschev and Sam Houston for the vacant NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship. The match started back and forth until Houston gained the advantage with the side headlock, Khruschev fought back with a flapjack. Khruschev climbed the turnbuckles, but Houston stopped him with a dropkick, after performing a bulldog, Houston attempted to pin Khruschev, but Khruschev placed his foot on the ropes. Houston believed he had won, and Khruschev pinned him after performing a clothesline to win the match, Houston had his foot on the ropes, but this was undetected by the referee. The second match was a Mexican Death match between Abdullah the Butcher and Manny Fernandez, Abdullah had the early advantage, attacking Fernandezs head with weapons. Fernandez fought back and attacked Abdullah with his boot and belt, Fernandez performed a Flying Burrito and a flying clothesline, but missed a splash. Abdullah attempted a turnbuckle thrust in the corner, but Fernandez avoided it, Fernandez then retrieved the sombrero to win the match. The third match was a Texas Bullrope match between Black Bart and Ron Bass, if Bass won, he would receive a match with J. J. The match started back and forth until Bart missed a clothesline, Bass had the advantage with the use of the cowbell

10.
Tully Blanchard
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Tully Arthur Blanchard is a Canadian-born American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and he was inducted into the NWA Hall of Fame in 2009 and the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012. As the son of wrestling promoter and former American Wrestling Association star Joe Blanchard and he began selling programs and refreshments at the arenas at the age of ten, and worked as a referee when he was older. Blanchard attended West Texas State University, where he played American football, first as a quarterback and then as an end, alongside fellow future wrestlers Tito Santana. He began his career by tag teaming with his father in a feud against Dory Funk, Jr. between 1978 and 1983, Blanchard held the SCW Southwest Television Championship and SCW Southwest Heavyweight Championship on seven occasions. He formed a tag team with Gino Hernandez, The Dynamic Duo and they held the Texas All-Star USA Tag Team Championship on five occasions and the SCW World Tag Team Championship on one occasion in the early 1980s. In 1984, Blanchard left SCW for Jim Crockett Promotions, Blanchard came to Jim Crockett, Jr. s Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in early 1984. Blanchard won the title on March 28,1984 and defended the title against some of the top contenders in the such as Ricky Steamboat. After Steamboat departed JCP for the WWF, Blanchard and Dusty Rhodes began a feud for the TV title, on March 16,1985, Rhodes defeated Blanchard to win the NWA Television Championship, ending Blanchards 353-day reign. In the mid 80s Tully Blanchard had a series of matches with World Wrestling Council Universal Champion Carlos Colon in Puerto Rico and the Continental United States. In late 1985, Blanchard fired Baby Doll as his manager, slapping her during a segment and ignited a feud with Dusty Rhodes. James J. Dillon then became Blanchards manager, after Blanchards feud with Rhodes ended, he soon found himself immersed in another high-profile feud over the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship held by Magnum T. A. Much like his feud with Dusty Rhodes, Blanchards rivalry with Magnum escalated into a series of bloody and brutal matches, on July 21,1985 Blanchard defeated Magnum for the U. S. Championship by punching him with an object in his hand given to him by Baby Doll. The feud culminated at Starrcade 85 during a brutal and extremely bloody I Quit match held inside of a cage for the title. The match ended with Magnum driving a piece of a wooden chair into Blanchards forehead. In early 1986, the became a solidified group and called themselves the Four Horsemen. The Horsemen feuded with the top faces of the territory including Magnum T. A

11.
WWE United States Championship
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The WWE United States Championship is a professional wrestling championship promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the Raw brand. Along with the Intercontinental Championship on the SmackDown brand, it is one of the two titles of the promotion. It is currently held by Kevin Owens, who is in his first reign, Harley Race was the inaugural champion. This makes the United States Championship the only championship in WWE that was not originated in the promotion, as well as WWEs second oldest active championship. After the 2002 brand extension and the promotion renamed to WWE, as a result of the 2016 draft, it became exclusive to the Raw brand. The United States Championship began as a championship called the United States Heavyweight Championship. It was created by and defended in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling run by Jim Crockett Jr, introduced on January 1,1975, Harley Race became the inaugural champion. The title quickly replaced the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship as the top title in the promotion. The title remained the primary championship within the Mid-Atlantic territory until 1986 when Crockett gained control of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, the United States title then became the secondary championship of the promotion. After Ted Turner bought the company and renamed it World Championship Wrestling in November 1988, WCW began to pull itself away from the NWA, demonstrated by the company changing the name of the title to the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship in January 1991. In March 2001, the World Wrestling Federation purchased WCW, the United States Championship was then deactivated. In July 2003, a year after the first brand extension went into effect in the now renamed WWE. General Manager Stephanie McMahon, and was commissioned to be a championship for the SmackDown. Eddie Guerrero became the first champion after its reactivation by winning a tournament at Vengeance and this was done shortly after the Intercontinental Championship was recommissioned by the Raw brand, making the title its equal counterpart. The first brand extension ended on August 29,2011, in 2015, WWE introduced an updated version of its Grand Slam Championship, and the United States Championship became officially recognized as a component of the re-established honor. Rollins held both titles until Cena defeated Rollins in his rematch for the title at Night of Champions the following month, in July 2016, WWE reintroduced the brand extension, during the draft, then-United States Champion Rusev was drafted to the Raw brand. Days later, he defended the title against SmackDown draftee Zack Ryder at Battleground. Following the revival of the United States Championship in 2003, the title was designated to SmackDown, the brand extension was discontinued on August 29,2011, but it was revived on July 19,2016

12.
Royal Rumble (1999)
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Royal Rumble was the twelfth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on January 24,1999, at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim in Anaheim, California. The title of the event was taken from a promise by Mr. McMahon that the first entrant in the Royal Rumble, Stone Cold Steve Austin, had no chance in hell of winning the match. The theme song for the event, based on the phrase, would go on to become the music for McMahons stable The Corporation and later, just McMahon himself. The main event was the annual Royal Rumble match, which saw the winner receive a shot for the WWF Championship at the WrestleMania pay-per-view two months later. The Royal Rumble centered on the heated rivalry between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Mr. McMahon, with those men entering the main event at #1 and #2. The penultimate match for the WWF Championship was an I Quit match between Mankind and The Rock, which is remembered both for its brutality and its place in the documentary film Beyond the Mat. Lower down on the card the WWF Intercontinental Championship and WWF Womens Championship were both defended, the overriding theme of the pay-per-view was centered on The Corporation and Mr. McMahons attempts to enforce his notions of how a company should be run on the promotion. Since its inception the night after Survivor Series, the group had come to blows with D-Generation X. Despite his interference at Rock Bottom, In Your House they managed to retain their titles, filled with his typical rage Shamrock put his Intercontinental Championship on the line for a chance to honor his notions of sibling protection. After a minor absence, Womens Champion Sable returned to Raw with an invitation on December 28. A masked wrestler identified as Spider Lady came to the ring for the match, the masked woman was revealed to be Luna Vachon, who would go on to face Sable in a Strap Match at the Rumble. The Rock and Mankind had been feuding ever since Survivor Series in November 1998, the Rock won the title that night with the help of the McMahons, who had previously been assisting Mankind, and became the chosen Corporate Champion while Mankind began a feud with the Corporation. Angered at being screwed out of the championship twice, Mankind attacked Shane McMahon on Raw is War, on the first Raw is War of 1999, January 4, after interference from The Corporation, D-Generation X and Steve Austin, Mankind won his first WWF Championship. The Royal Rumble match featured a number of notable build ups, again it seemed as if the winner was established until DXs Chyna made her way to the ring and won the match. The event would mark the first time a female wrestler took part in the match, Chyna also appeared at the Royal Rumble the following year as well. Chyna became the woman to enter the match until Beth Phoenix entered the Royal Rumble in 2010. The most notable aspect of the Royal Rumble, though, was the feud between Mr. McMahon and Stone Cold Steve Austin, commissioner Michaels over-rode his decision and put McMahon at #2, and set up a Corporate/DX mini-Rumble for the now vacant #30 position

13.
Dwayne Johnson
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Dwayne Douglas Johnson, also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor, producer, singer, and professional wrestler. He holds American and Canadian citizenships and he later played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League and was cut two months into the 1995 season. This led him to become a professional wrestler like his grandfather, Peter Maivia and he returned to wrestling part-time for WWE from 2011 to 2013 and continues to make sporadic non-wrestling appearances for the company. Johnson has 17 championship reigns in WWE, including 10 as a champion, winning the WWF/WWE Championship eight times. He won the WWF Intercontinental Championship twice and the WWF Tag Team Championship five times, Johnson is the sixth Triple Crown Champion in WWE history and won the 2000 Royal Rumble. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, co-written with Joe Layden, was published in 2000. It debuted at No.1 on The New York Times Best Seller list, spent 20 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, Johnsons first leading film role was in The Scorpion King in 2002. For this role, he was paid US $5.5 million and he has since appeared in various films, and become known for his ability to reinvigorate film franchises. Perhaps his greatest success in his career can be sourced to his role as Luke Hobbs in The Fast. Forbes listed Johnson No.25 in the Top 100 Most Powerful Celebrities in 2013 and he is the worlds highest-paid actor of 2016. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016, in 2015, Muscle & Fitness named Johnson their Man of the Century. Johnson was born in Hayward, California, the son of Ata Johnson and professional wrestler Wayde Douglas Bowles and his maternal grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia, was also a wrestler. His maternal grandmother, Lia Maivia, was one of few female promoters, taking over Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling after her husbands death in 1982. His cousin, Savelina Fanene, is also a wrestler working for WWE. His father is a Black Nova Scotian, and his mother is of Samoan heritage and his father was part of the first black tag team to win the World Tag Team Championship in the World Wrestling Federation. Through his mother, he is considered a relative of the Anoai wrestling family. Johnson briefly lived in the suburb of Grey Lynn in Auckland and he attended Richmond Road Primary School, before returning to the United States with his parents. Johnson spent 10th grade at President William McKinley High School in Honolulu, as he entered 11th grade, his fathers job required his relocation to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

14.
Mick Foley
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Foley has wrestled under his real name and various personas, including Dude Love, Cactus Jack, and Mankind, also known as the Three Faces of Foley. He is a world champion, an 11-time world tag team champion, a one-time TNA Legends Champion. Foley was born in Bloomington, Indiana and he had an older brother named John. Soon after, Foleys family moved to East Setauket, New York, where Foley attended Ward Melville High School, played lacrosse, Foley was a high school classmate of comic actor Kevin James. The two were on the team together and attended the same college. While a student at State University of New York at Cortland, he hitchhiked to Madison Square Garden to see his favorite wrestler, Jimmy Snuka, Foley has said that Snukas flying body splash from the top of the cage inspired him to pursue a career in pro wrestling. Foley had a front row seat and is visible on the video of the event, Mick Foley formally trained at Dominic DeNuccis wrestling school in Freedom, Pennsylvania, driving several hours weekly from his college campus in Cortland, New York, and debuted in 1986. In one of these matches, Foley and Les Thornton faced the British Bulldogs, during these squash matches, Foley also faced other top level talent at the time, such as Hercules Hernandez. His run would not last long, as he had not signed a contract with the promotion at the time, during this run, he was also billed from different hometowns and at different weights. After several years of wrestling in the independent circuit, Foley began receiving offers from various regional promotions and he joined the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association as Cactus Jack, where he teamed with Gary Young as part of the Stud Stable. Cactus and Young briefly held the CWA tag titles in late 1988, on November 20, Foley left CWA for Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling. In World Class Championship Wrestling, Cactus Jack, billed as Cactus Jack Manson, was a part of Skandor Akbars stable. Foley also won titles, including the companys light heavyweight and tag team titles before leaving the company. He then briefly competed in Alabamas Continental Wrestling Federation before completing a stint with World Championship Wrestling. For much of his there, he would team with jobbers. When the jobber would lose the match for them, Cactus Jack would attack his partner, throw out of the ring. His biggest match at the time was against Mil Máscaras at Clash of the Champions X and it was during this period that Foley was involved in a car accident that resulted in the loss of his two front teeth, adding to the distinctive look for which he is famous. Following the short stint with WCCW, Foley then signed with Herb Abramss Universal Wrestling Federation, in UWF, Foley teamed with Bob Orton to feud with Don Muraco, Sunny Beach, and Brian Blair

15.
WWE
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WWE also refers to the professional wrestling promotion itself, founded by Jess McMahon and Toots Mondt in 1952 as Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. As of 2016, it is the largest wrestling promotion in the world, holding over 500 events a year, the companys global headquarters is located in Stamford, Connecticut, with offices in major cities across the world. This was first publicly acknowledged by WWEs owner Vince McMahon in 1989 to avoid taxes from athletic commissions, since the 1980s, WWE publicly has branded their product as sports entertainment, acknowledging the products roots in competitive sport and dramatic theater. The companys majority owner is its chairman and CEO, Vince McMahon, along with his wife Linda, children Shane and Stephanie, and son-in-law Paul Triple H Levesque, the McMahon family holds approximately 70% of WWEs equity and 96% of the voting power. As of August 2014, Eminence Capital, a New York-based hedge fund, the current entity, incorporated on February 21,1980, was previously known as Titan Sports, Inc. which was founded in 1979 in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. It acquired Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the company for the World Wrestling Federation. Titan was renamed World Wrestling Federation, Inc. in 1998, then World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. in 1999, since 2011, the company has officially branded itself solely as WWE though the companys legal name was not changed. WWEs origins can be traced back as far as 1952 when Roderick James Jess McMahon, McMahon, who was a successful boxing promoter, began working with Tex Rickard in 1926. With the help of Rickard, he began promoting boxing at the third Madison Square Garden and it was not the first time he had promoted wrestling cards, as he had already done so during the 1910s. In November 1954, McMahon died and Ray Fabiani, one of Mondts associates, the younger McMahon and Mondt were very successful and soon controlled approximately 70% of the NWAs booking, largely due to their dominance in the heavily populated Northeast region. In 1963, McMahon and Mondt had a dispute with the NWA over Nature Boy Buddy Rogers being booked to hold the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Both men left the company in protest and formed the WWWF in the process and he lost the championship to Bruno Sammartino a month later on May 17,1963, after suffering a heart attack a week before the match. After gaining a television deal and hiring Lou Albano as a manager for Sammartinos heel opponents. Mondt left Capitol in the sixties and although the WWWF had withdrawn from the NWA, Vince McMahon. Capitol renamed the World Wide Wrestling Federation to the World Wrestling Federation in 1979, Vincent J. McMahons son, Vincent K. McMahon, and his wife Linda, established Titan Sports, Inc. in 1979 in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. The company was incorporated on February 21,1980, in the Cape Cod Coliseum offices, the younger McMahon bought Capitol from his father in 1982, effectively seizing control of the company. Seeking to make the WWF the premier wrestling promotion in the country, and eventually, at the annual meeting of the NWA in 1983, the McMahons and former Capitol employee Jim Barnett all withdrew from the organization. McMahon also worked to get WWF programming on syndicated television all across the United States, in addition, the company used income generated by advertising, television deals, and tape sales to secure talent from rival promoters

16.
Handcuffs
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Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individuals wrists close together. They comprise two parts, linked together by a chain, a hinge, or rigid bar, each half has a rotating arm which engages with a ratchet that prevents it from being opened once closed around a persons wrist. Without the key, the handcuffs cannot be removed and so the person is unable to move his or her wrists more than a few centimetres/inches apart. This is usually done to prevent suspected criminals from escaping police custody, there are three main types of contemporary metal handcuffs, chain, hinged, and rigid solid bar handcuffs. While bulkier to carry, rigid handcuffs permit several variations in cuffing, hiatts Speedcuffs are rigid handcuffs used by most police forces in the United Kingdom. Both rigid and hinged cuffs can be used one-handed to apply pain-compliance/control techniques that are not workable with the type of cuff. Various accessories are available to improve the security or increase the rigidity of handcuffs, including boxes that fit over the chain or hinge and can themselves be locked with a padlock. In 1933 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police used a type called Mitten Handcuffs to prevent criminals from being able to grab an object like the officers gun, while used by some in law enforcement it was never popular. Handcuffs may be manufactured from metals, including carbon steel, stainless steel and aluminium. Oversized handcuffs are available from a number of manufacturers, the National Museum of Australia has a number of handcuffs in its collection dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These includeT-type Come Along, D-type and Figure-8 handcuffs and they can be carried in large quantities by soldiers and police and are therefore well-suited for situations where many may be needed, such as during large-scale protests and riots. In recent years, airlines have begun to carry plastic handcuffs as a way to restrain disruptive passengers. Disposable restraints could be considered to be cost-inefficient, they cannot be loosened and it is not unheard of for a single subject to receive five or more sets of disposable restraints in his or her first few hours in custody. However, aforementioned usage means that cheap handcuffs are available in situations where steel ones would normally lie unused for long times, in addition, plastic restraints are believed by many to be more likely to inflict nerve or soft-tissue damage to the wearer than metal handcuffs. Legcuffs are similar to handcuffs, but have a larger inner perimeter so that they fit around a persons ankles, some models consist of elliptically contoured cuffs so that they widely adapt to the anatomy of the ankle, minimizing pressure on the Achillestendon. Standard-type leg irons have a chain connecting the two cuffs compared to handcuffs. Legcuffs are also used when transporting prisoners outside of an area to prevent attempts to escape. When being placed in standard legcuffs, the prisoner will still have the possibility to manage normal steps and can walk independently

17.
Public address
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Simple PA systems are often used in small venues such as school auditoriums, churches, and small bars. Intercom systems, installed in buildings, have both speakers throughout a building, and microphones in many rooms allowing the occupants to respond to announcements. Sound reinforcement systems and PA systems may use some similar components, Sound reinforcement systems are for live music or performance, whereas PA systems are primarily for reproduction of speech. A short time later the Automatic Enunciator Company was established in Chicago in order to market the new device, in August 1912 a large outdoor installation was made at a water carnival held in Chicago by the Associated Yacht and Power Boat Clubs of America. Seventy-two loudspeakers were strung in pairs at intervals along the docks. The system was used to announce race reports and descriptions, carry a series of speeches about The Chicago Plan, and provide music between races. Four years later, in 1915, they built a dynamic loudspeaker with a 1-inch voice coil, a 3-inch corrugated diaphragm, the electromagnet created a flux field of approximately 11,000 G. Their first experiment used a carbon microphone, when the 12 V battery was connected to the system, they experienced one of the first examples of acoustic feedback. They then placed the loudspeaker on the roof, and claims say that the amplified human voice could be heard 1 mile away. Jensen and Pridham refined the system and connected a phonograph to the loudspeaker to be able to broadcast recorded music and this demonstration was official presentation of the working system, and approximately 100,000 people gathered to hear Christmas music and speeches with absolute distinctness. The first outside broadcast was one week later, again supervised by Jensen. Jensen oversaw the governor using the microphone while Pridham operated the loudspeaker, the following year, Jensen and Pridham applied for a patent for what they called their Sound Magnifying Phonograph. Over the next two years developed their first valve amplifier. In 1919 this was standardized as a 3-stage 25 watt amplifier, wilsons speech was part of his nationwide tour to promote the establishment of the League of Nations. It was held on September 9,1919 at City Stadium, as with the San Francisco installation, Jensen supervised the microphone and Pridham the loudspeakers. Wilson spoke into two large horns mounted on his platform which channelled his voice into the microphone, similar systems were used in the following years by Warren G. Harding and Franklin D. Roosevelt. By the early 1920s, Marconi had established a department dedicated to public address, in 1925, George V used such a system at the British Empire Exhibition, addressing 90,000 via six long-range loudspeakers. This public use of loudspeakers brought attention to the possibilities of such technology, the 1925 Royal Air Force Pageant at Hendon Aerodrome used a Marconi system to allow the announcer to address the crowds, as well as amplify the band

18.
Triple H
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Paul Michael Levesque, better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive and professional wrestler. Levesque is the Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative for WWE, as well as being the founder and senior producer of NXT, Levesque commenced his professional wrestling career in the International Wrestling Federation in 1992 under the ring name Terra Ryzing. In 1994, he joined World Championship Wrestling, where he was repackaged as Jean-Paul Lévesque. In 1995, Levesque moved to the World Wrestling Federation, where he became Hunter Hearst Helmsley and, later, in 1997, Triple H co-founded the influential D-Generation X stable, which became a major element of the WWFs Attitude Era. Levesque himself wed McMahon in 2003, over the next two decades, he won a total of 14 world championships and led stables The McMahon-Helmsley Faction, Evolution and The Authority. From 2010 onwards, Triple H curtailed his appearances as he took on a greater behind-the-scenes role within WWE. He is a member by marriage of the McMahon family, which maintains majority ownership of WWE, in the course of his career, Levesque has held a total of 25 championships, including nine reigns as WWF/WWE Champion and five as WWEs World Heavyweight Champion. Triple H was also the winner of the 1997 King of the Ring tournament and he has headlined WrestleMania, WWEs flagship pay-per-view, a record seven times. Outside of professional wrestling, Levesque has made numerous guest appearances in film and on television, Levesque was born in Nashua, New Hampshire. He watched wrestling for the first time when he was five, Levesque began to take up bodybuilding at the age of 14, because he wanted to look like professional wrestlers. Levesque attended Nashua South High School, where he played baseball and basketball, following his graduation from high school in 1987, Levesque continued to enter several bodybuilding competitions, and was crowned Mr. Teenage New Hampshire in 1988 at the age of 19. While working as a manager at Golds Gym in Nashua, New Hampshire, Levesque was introduced to world champion powerlifter, Ted Arcidi, in early 1992, Levesque enrolled in Kowalskis wrestling school, where he began to train as a professional wrestler. Levesque was trained to wrestle by Killer Kowalski at his school in Malden and his class mates included fellow future WWF wrestlers Chyna and Perry Saturn. Levesque made his debut on March 24,1992 in Kowalskis promotion. In July 1992, Levesque defeated Mad Dog Richard to win the IWF Heavyweight Championship, Levesque wrestled for various promotions on the East Coast independent circuit until 1994. During this period, he was managed by John Rodeo, in early 1994, Levesque signed a one-year contract with World Championship Wrestling. In his first televised match, Levesque debuted as a villain named Terror Risin and his ring name was soon modified to Terra Ryzing, which he used until mid-1994, when he was renamed Jean-Paul Lévesque. This gimmick referred to his surnames French origins and he was asked to speak with a French accent, during this time, he began using his finishing maneuver, the Pedigree

19.
Kane (wrestler)
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Glenn Thomas Jacobs, better known by the ring name Kane, is a Spanish-born American professional wrestler, Insurer and actor. He is signed on the WWE, where he is working on the SmackDown brand. Jacobs began his wrestling career on the independent circuit in 1992. He wrestled in promotions such as Smoky Mountain Wrestling and the United States Wrestling Association before joining the World Wrestling Federation in 1995 and he has continued to compete in world championship PPV matches through the mid 2010s. He is also a two-time WWE Intercontinental Champion and a 2010 Money in the Bank winner, Kane is the third man to win the WWE Grand Slam. Kane also holds the record of eliminations at Royal Rumble with 44 eliminations. Jacobs was born in the Spanish town of Torrejón de Ardoz and he grew up near St. Louis, Missouri. Jacobs earned a degree in English literature at Northeast Missouri State University, in the ring, Jacobs was first known as Angus King when he debuted in the St. Louis, Missouri area with the CSWA which was owned and run by Jacobss childhood friend Mark Morton. During his time in the United States Wrestling Association, Jacobs held the USWA Heavyweight Championship, Jacobs also worked for Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi under his real name. In 1993, he lost his match for World Championship Wrestling to Sting. Jacobs competed in his first World Wrestling Federation bout as Mike Unabomb at the February 20,1995 Raw taping, defeating Reno Riggins in a dark match and he wrestled intermittently as Unabomb through August. Jacobs made his first television appearance with the company as Isaac Yankem, DDS, Jerry Lawlers private dentist, in a vignette on the June 26,1995, episode of Raw. Placing emphasis on Jacobss imposing height and weight, Yankem was portrayed as a figure whom Lawler had hired for the purpose of ridding the WWF of his longtime nemesis. The characters in-ring debut occurred at a Superstars taping on August 15, at that months SummerSlam event, Yankem was disqualified when he hung Hart by twisting him in the top and middle ropes by his neck. After his initial run with Hart, Jacobss push dwindled and he was part of an unsuccessful team in an elimination match at Novembers Survivor Series. Jacobs was used on a series of events in Kuwait in May, as well as a September tour of South Africa. The pair lost a WWF Tag Team Championship match to titleholders Owen Hart and The British Bulldog at Decembers In Your House 12, Diesel and Razor last appeared on television at the 1997 Royal Rumble, where Jacobs was the third-to-last participant. He continued to work live events as Diesel until April

20.
Chyna
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Joan Marie Laurer, also known by her ring name Chyna, was an American professional wrestler, glamour model, pornographic film actress, and bodybuilder. Chyna first rose to prominence in the World Wrestling Federation in 1997, a founding member of the stable D-Generation X as the promotions first female enforcer, she held the WWF Intercontinental Championship twice and the WWF Womens Championship once. She was also the first woman to participate in the Royal Rumble and King of the Ring events, after leaving the WWF in 2001, Chyna wrestled sporadically, with New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2002 and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2011. Outside of wrestling, Chyna appeared in Playboy magazine twice, as well as television shows. She starred in a further five pornographic titles, including AVNs 2012 Best Celebrity Sex Tape, Laurer was born in Rochester, New York on December 27,1969. She had two siblings, Kathy and Sonny. After her parents divorced when she was four years old. From 1973 to 1983, she, her siblings and her mother moved several times, as a child, Laurer learned to play both the violin and cello. She later said that in seventh grade she was kissed by a much older teacher who worked at her school. At age thirteen, while attending Penfield High School, she began purging after she ate and she left home at age sixteen after her mother tried to force her into a drug rehabilitation facility, going instead to live with her biological father. That same year, she began working out, and because her muscles were so strong. She finished her last year of school in Spain. She attended the University of Tampa, graduating in 1992 with a major in Spanish Literature, during college, she also studied French and German and later stated during this time she was raped by two men after getting drunk at a party. She also was a member of the ROTC and she originally wanted to use her knowledge of foreign languages to work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation or Drug Enforcement Administration. Subsequently, she joined the Peace Corps and was assigned to Guatemala, after returning from abroad, Laurer held several different jobs, a cocktail waitress in a strip club, singer in a band, and a 900-number chat line worker. In her mid-to-late 20s, while living in the Florida Keys, on the way to her first flight, she was in a car accident and spent four days in the hospital. After recovering from the accident, Laurers sister Kathy helped her get a job selling beepers, after college, Laurer began to regularly enter fitness competitions. In 1996, Laurer competed in the New York City regional level of the Fitness America competition, because of her large size compared to the other women, she usually finished in last place

21.
John Cena
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John Felix Anthony Cena Jr. is an American professional wrestler, rapper, actor, and reality television show host. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand, Cena started his professional wrestling career in 1999 with Ultimate Pro Wrestling and won the UPW Heavyweight Championship the following year. Cena signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation in 2001. From a generic character in 2002, Cena morphed into a rapper for the period of 2002–2004. Cena later transitioned to his current character, which he describes as a goody-two shoes Superman, in 2012, IGN described Cena as WWEs franchise player since 2005 and WWE credited Cena as being the face of WWE in 2015 since 2004. Industry veterans John Layfield, Paul Heyman and Kurt Angle have called Cena the greatest WWE star of all time. Throughout his WWE career, Cena has won 25 championships, with 16 reigns as a world champion and he is also a five-time United States Champion, and four-time world tag team champion. Furthermore, he is a Money in the Bank ladder match winner, a two-time Royal Rumble winner, Cena has the fourth-highest number of combined days as WWE Champion, behind Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund, and Hulk Hogan. He has also headlined WWEs flagship event, WrestleMania, on five different occasions over the course of his career, as of 2016, John Cena is WWEs highest-paid wrestler. Cena has also made appearances on shows including Manhunt, Deal or No Deal, MADtv, Saturday Night Live, Punkd, Psych. He was also a contestant on Fast Cars and Superstars, The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race, Cena is also the host of American Grit on Fox. Cena is involved in philanthropic causes, most notably with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He has granted the most wishes in Make-A-Wish history, Cena was born on April 23,1977 in West Newbury, Massachusetts, to Carol and John Cena, Sr. He is the second oldest of five brothers, Dan, Matt, Steve and his maternal grandfather was baseball player Tony Lupien. His father is of Italian descent, while his mother has English, Cena originally attended Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Massachusetts, before transferring to Cushing Academy, a private prep boarding school. After graduating from Cushing Academy, Cena attended Springfield College in Springfield, in college, Cena was a NCAA Division III All-American center on the college football team, wearing the number 54, which is still used on some of his WWE merchandise. He graduated from Springfield in 1998 with a degree in physiology, after which he pursued a career in bodybuilding. Cena started training to become a wrestler in 1999 at Ultimate Pro Wrestlings California-based Ultimate University operated by Rick Bassman

22.
WWE Championship
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The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the SmackDown brand. It is one of two titles in the WWE, alongside the WWE Universal Championship that was created for the Raw brand as a result of the 2016 WWE draft. The title is held by Randy Orton, who is in his ninth reign. The inaugural champion was Buddy Rogers, since its inception, the title has undergone many name changes due to company name changes and title unifications. From its inception until 2001, it was promoted as WWEs sole primary championship, an additional world title, the WCW Championship, was added after the then-World Wrestling Federations purchase of World Championship Wrestling in early 2001. The titles were unified as the Undisputed Championship. After the first brand extension in 2002 and the promotion becoming the WWE, the championship exclusive to SmackDown. ECW became a brand in 2006, adding the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Over the course of the first brand extension, the WWE Championship switched between brands, usually as a result of the annual draft, the ECW Championship was deactivated in 2010, and the World Heavyweight Championship was unified with the WWE Championship in 2013. The championship was again the world title of WWE until the reintroduction of the brand extension in 2016. The title was introduced in 1963 with Buddy Rogers becoming the first champion, however, its origin is attributed to events that began in the National Wrestling Alliance, which had various territorial member promotions. In the 1950s, Capitol Wrestling Corporation was a member of the NWA and by 1963, during this time, Buddy Rogers held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship until January 24, when Lou Thesz defeated Rogers for the championship in a one fall match. After several years, the WWWF became affiliated with the NWA once again, although the full name appeared on the championship belts until 1998, the name was often abbreviated to WWF Championship, which became its official name in 1998. In 1991, World Championship Wrestling, a member of the NWA, in 1993, WCW seceded from the NWA and grew to become a rival promotion to the WWF. Both organizations grew into prominence and were eventually involved in a television ratings war. Near the end of the war, WCW began a financial decline. As a result of the purchase, the WWF acquired, among other assets, thus, there were two world titles in the WWF, the original WWF Championship and the WCW Championship, which was eventually renamed to the World Championship. In December 2001, the two championships were unified at Vengeance, at the event, Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Kurt Angle to retain the WWF Championship, while Chris Jericho defeated The Rock for the World Championship

23.
John Layfield
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He also is a regular panelist on the Saturday morning Fox News show Bulls & Bears. Outside of his WWE work, Layfield is a financial analyst for Fox News, within WWE, he was previously known by the ring name Bradshaw, and prior to that, the variations Justin Bradshaw and Blackjack Bradshaw. As JBL, Layfield was WWE Champion for 281 days from 2004–2005 after controversially defeating Eddie Guerrero for the title. Layfield is a guest panelist on Fox News Channels The Cost of Freedom, has appeared on CNBC and he hosts a weekend talk radio program, syndicated nationally by Talk Radio Network, in which he discusses his conservative political views. Layfield is also employed by Northeast Securities as its Senior Vice President and he is also recognized by WWE as the 20th Triple Crown Champion and the 10th Grand Slam Champion. Prior to his wrestling career, Layfield was a collegiate American football coach for Trinity Valley Community College. At Abilene, Layfield was a starter on the offensive line and was named first-team All-Lone Star Conference as a junior and senior. Layfield signed with the Los Angeles Raiders as a free agent. Layfield did play in the World League of American Football, starting all ten games of the 1991 season at right tackle for the San Antonio Riders, Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett was the quarterback of that team. Layfield was trained initially by Brad Rheingans and first started wrestling in the Global Wrestling Federation in Texas and his first gimmick was as John Hawk, storyline cousin of the Windham brothers. Later that year, Hawk won his second GWF Tag Team Championship with Black Bart on December 25 from Steve Dane and they held the title for a long time before losing them to The Fabulous Freebirds on June 3,1994. In January 1993, Layfield went on his first overseas trip to Japan, wrestling for George, later that same year, he would also wrestle in Mexico for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, wrestling under the name Vampiro Americano and frequently teamed with Vampiro Canadiense. He would also wrestle for Federacion Internacional de Lucha Libre, where he won its Heavyweight Championship. In June 1994, he went to Europe and toured Austria and Germany for Otto Wanzs Catch Wrestling Association, in March 1995, he returned to Japan, but with NOW recently folded, he went to Genichiro Tenryus WAR, where he went by the name Death Mask. Before joining the World Wrestling Federation, he was set to join Smoky Mountain Wrestling in December 1995, to wrestle Buddy Landel, after the GWF shut down in September 1994, he joined the National Wrestling Alliance. Layfield won the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship on January 14,1995, two months later, he lost the NWA North American title to Greg The Hammer Valentine. His initial gimmick was that of a tough cowboy/mountain man, after victories, he branded his opponents with the symbol JB in ink, rather than being seared into the flesh. Bradshaw remained undefeated for almost a year until a loss during a Caribbean Strap Match to Savio Vega on the September 22,1996 PPV In Your House 10, Mind Games

24.
Judgment Day (2005)
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Judgment Day was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment. It was the annual event of the same name and took place on May 22,2005, at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The event featured wrestlers and other talent that performed on the SmackDown, the main event was an I Quit match featuring two wrestlers fighting until one stated I Quit. WWE Champion John Cena defeated John Bradshaw Layfield to retain his championship, two featured bouts were scheduled on the undercard. In respective standard wrestling matches, Rey Mysterio defeated Eddie Guerrero, Judgment Day grossed over $500,000 in ticket sales from an attendance of 9,500, and received 220,000 pay-per-view buys. This event helped WWE increase its revenue by $4.7 million compared to the previous year. The event featured seven professional wrestling matches involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots. Wrestlers portrayed either a villainous or fan favorite gimmick as they followed a series of events which built tension. The name of a character was not always the persons birth name. All wrestlers were from the SmackDown, brand – a storyline division in which WWE assigned its employees to a different program, the other being Raw. In the last month at WrestleMania 21, John Cena won the WWE Championship against JBL, on the April 7 episode of SmackDown. The first match that Long announced was between JBL and Rey Mysterio, Mysterio was disqualified, after Eddie Guerrero interfered and attacked JBL. Guerrero and Kurt Angle were scheduled for the second contenders match, Angle advanced to the finals, as he went on to defeat Guerrero. Later during the program, Cena unveiled a version of the WWE championship. Before the unveiling, however, JBL came out wearing the original WWE championship, on the April 21 episode of SmackDown. Booker T and Big Show were booked in another contenders match, after the match ended in a double disqualification, Long booked JBL, Angle, Booker T, and Big Show in a Fatal 4-Way Match for the next week. JBL won the match, after he pinned Angle and having the right to face Cena at Judgment Day with the championship on the line, on the May 5 episode of SmackDown. Cena proposed that hed defend the championship against JBL in an I Quit match, on the May 19 episode of SmackDown

25.
No Mercy (2003)
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It was the sixth event under the No Mercy chronology and starred wrestlers from the SmackDown. Nine professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the events card, two featured bouts were scheduled on the undercard. In a standard match for the WWE United States Championship, the Big Show defeated Eddie Guerrero to win the title, the other was also a standard match, in which Kurt Angle defeated John Cena. No Mercy had an attendance of approximately 8,500 and received about 254,000 pay-per-view buys and this event helped WWE increase its pay-per-view revenue by $6.2 million from the previous year. When the event was released on DVD, it reached a position of seventh on Billboards DVD Sales Chart. The event featured nine professional wrestling matches with outcomes predetermined by WWE script writers, the matches featured wrestlers portraying their characters in planned storylines that took place before, during and after the event. All wrestlers were from the SmackDown brand, a division in which WWE assigned its employees. On the August 28 episode of SmackDown, The Undertaker defeated Brock Lesnar, Lesnar scored five falls, while Angle scored four in the encounter, thus, Lesnar won the match and the WWE Title. This marked Lesnars third title defense against Undertaker on pay-per-view, on the October 9 episode of SmackDown, Lesnar defended the title against Paul London. When retrieved, it can be used as a weapon, on the October 9 episode of SmackDown, it was announced that Eddie Guerrero would face The Big Show at No Mercy for the United States Championship. Later that night, Chavo Guerrero brought the Big Show out to the ring, followed by Eddie Guerrero bringing a sewage truck into the arena, the next week on SmackDown, Guerrero defeated Rhyno in a non-title match. Afterwards, the Big Show attacked Guerrero by using his signature lowrider as a weapon, on the September 18 episode of SmackDown, Kurt Angle lost the WWE Championship to Brock Lesnar in an Iron Man match to. The match marked Angles third defense against Lesnar with the first being WrestleMania XIX where Lesnar won the title, the next week on SmackDown, Angle called Lesnar out to the ring, demanding a rematch, but instead John Cena came to the ring and attacked Angle. The next week on Smackdown, two of the main rivalries on SmackDown intertwined in a tag match, when Lesnar and Cena defeated Angle. The next week on SmackDown, a rap battle took place between Cena and Angle, in both men performed raps insulting each other. The battle ended with Angle attacking Cena and the two proceeding to fight in the ring, another prominent match on the card was an I Quit match between Vince McMahon and his daughter, Stephanie McMahon. At the No Mercy event, however, Vince announced that Stephanie could score a pinfall or submission to win the match, Vince, angered by this, demanded that she retract the decision. When Stephanie did not, Vince announced that the two of them would face other in an I Quit match at No Mercy

26.
Vince McMahon
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Vincent Kennedy Vince McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, former commentator, announcer, film producer, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Since taking over the company from his father in the 1980s and he currently serves as the majority owner, chairman, and CEO of the professional wrestling promotion. McMahon has also competed as a professional wrestler using a gimmick known by the ring name Mr. McMahon. He is a world champion, having won the WWF Championship in 1999 and ECW World Championship in 2007. He headlined multiple pay-per-view events from 1999 to 2000 and participated in the event of WrestleMania 2000. McMahon was born in Pinehurst, North Carolina and he was raised as Vinnie Lupton and spent the majority of his childhood living with his mother, Victoria Vicki Lupton and a string of stepfathers. He claimed that one of his stepfathers, Leo Lupton, used to beat his mother and he said, It is unfortunate that he died before I could kill him. His biological father, Vincent James McMahon, had left the family while McMahon was still a baby, taking his son, Rod. McMahon did not meet his father until age 12. According to an interview with Playboy, he attended Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Virginia, in his early life, he also overcame dyslexia. McMahon first met the promoter for Capitol Wrestling Corporation, his father Vincent J. McMahon, at that point, McMahon became interested in following his fathers professional wrestling footsteps and often accompanied him on trips to Madison Square Garden. McMahon wanted to be a wrestler, but his father would not let him, explaining that promoters did not appear on the show, in 1969, McMahon made his debut as an in-ring announcer for the WWWFs All-Star Wrestling. In 1971, he was assigned to a territory in Maine. He later became the commentator for television matches after he replaced Ray Morgan in 1971. Throughout the 1970s, McMahon became the prominent force in his fathers company and, over the next decade and he pushed for the renaming of the company to the World Wrestling Federation. The younger McMahon was also behind the Muhammad Ali versus Antonio Inoki match of 1976, at the time of his purchase of the WWF, professional wrestling was a business run by regional promotions. In 1983, the WWF split from the National Wrestling Alliance a second time, the NWA was the governing body for all the regional territories across the country and as far away as Japan. In 1984, he recruited Hulk Hogan to be the WWF’s charismatic new megastar, nevertheless, McMahon created The Rock n Wrestling Connection by incorporating pop music stars into wrestling storylines

27.
Stephanie McMahon
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Stephanie McMahon Levesque, also known professionally as Stephanie McMahon, is an American businesswoman, and Chief Brand Officer of WWE. She is currently the commissioner of WWEs weekly television show Raw. She is the great-granddaughter of Roderick Jess McMahon, granddaughter of Vincent J. McMahon began appearing regularly on-air for WWE in 1999 as a part of a storyline with The Undertaker. After a brief relationship with Test, she was engaged to Triple H—whom she married both on-screen and later in real life—which resulted in The McMahon-Helmsley Faction storyline. She has held the WWF Womens Championship once, in 2001, she was the on-screen owner of Extreme Championship Wrestling during The Invasion. The following year, she was the SmackDown General Manager, after only making sporadic appearances for several years, McMahon began appearing regularly on Raw in 2008 as the Raw brand general manager before disappearing once again. The Authority would later expand into a stable with its co-leaders Triple H, in April 2016, The Authority quietly disbanded. Stephanie Marie McMahon was born on September 24,1976 in Hartford, Connecticut to Linda and she has one brother, Shane McMahon. Soon after her birth, the moved to Greenwich, Connecticut. There, she attended the selective Greenwich Country Day School, throughout her school years. At the age of 13, McMahon appeared in World Wrestling Federation merchandise catalogs, after graduating from Greenwich High School, she attended Boston University and in 1998 earned a degree in Communications. After graduating in 1998, she working for the WWF full-time. McMahon entered WWF as a model and bodybuilder, for WWF Sales and merchandise, in her early years with the company, she did reception work, creative design, television production, and acted as a ring performer. After spending time as the director of creative writing, a job she had by 2002, McMahon was promoted to executive vice president of Creative in 2007. She was responsible for overseeing the process for all television. She oversaw all aspects of talent management and branding as well as live event booking and marketing, as Executive vice-president, Creative she was able to spearhead the upbringing of the WWE app, which has been downloaded over 20 million times. She was also able to launch a partnership with the USO metropolitan Washington, the social media company Tout. Stephanie also lead WWEs Creative coalition for their Anti Bullying Campaigns, in addition to her duties, she was responsible for the day-to-day operations for WWE. com

28.
Linda McMahon
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Linda Marie McMahon is an American professional wrestling magnate and politician who is currently the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, under the Trump Administration. McMahon was active with WWE from 1980 to 2009, during this time, the company grew from a small regional business in the North East to a large multinational corporation. As President and later CEO of the company, she initiated the companys civic programs, Get REAL and she occasionally made on-screen appearances, most notably in a wrestling feud with her husband which climaxed at WrestleMania X-Seven. McMahon and her husband became wealthy through WWEs success, and the McMahon family name is now synonymous with the wrestling industry. In 2009, McMahon left WWE to run as a Republican for a seat in the United States Senate from Connecticut and she was the Republican nominee for Connecticuts other Senate seat in the 2012 race, but lost to Democratic Representative Chris Murphy. On December 7,2016, President Donald Trump announced the nomination of McMahon to be the Administrator of the Small Business Administration. The Senate confirmation hearing began as scheduled on January 24,2017, on February 1,2017, her nomination was approved by the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship on an 18–1 vote. McMahon was confirmed by the full Senate on February 14,2017, McMahon was born Linda Marie Edwards in New Bern, North Carolina, the daughter of Evelyn and Henry Edwards. She was a child and grew up as a tomboy. Her parents were employees at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, a military base. She grew up in a conservative Baptist family, and was raised a Baptist, Linda M. Edwards, at the age of 13, met Vincent K. McMahon, then age 16. Her mother worked in the building as McMahons mother, although they had not met. Vinces mother became friends with the Edwards family, and Vince. Edwards and McMahon dated throughout their school years. She attended New Bern High School and Vince attended nearby Fishburne Military School, during this time, Vince was a permanent fixture at her home, spending hours with Linda and her family. He attended East Carolina University, studying business administration, Edwards was an honors student in high school and aspired to become a pediatrician. Shortly after her school graduation, Vince asked her to marry him. They married on August 26,1966, when she was 17 and she enrolled at East Carolina University in 1966, where she obtained a bachelors degree in French, and gained certification to teach

29.
WWE Diva
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Diva was a term used by WWE, an American professional wrestling promotion, to refer to its female performers. The term was applied to women who appear as wrestlers, managers or valets, backstage interviewers, thus, The Fabulous Moolahs reign was considered to have lasted 27 years by the promotion. WWF also introduced the WWF Womens Tag Team Championship with Velvet McIntyre, Moolah lost the title at The Brawl to End It All, broadcast live on MTV. Richter then lost the title to Leilani Kai the following year, in the summer of 1985, the WWF did a storyline where all established managers in the promotion competed to offer their services to Randy Savage. Savage revealed his new manager to be Miss Elizabeth on the August 24,1985 edition of WWF Prime Time Wrestling, in real life, Savage and Miss Elizabeth were married, but this was not mentioned on television. Miss Elizabeths first major angle was during Savages feud with George The Animal Steele in 1986, in the angle, Steele fell in love with Elizabeth, angering Savage and leading to a series of grudge matches between him and Steele. When Savage—who had formed an alliance with Hogan—turned on Hogan in early 1989, Elizabeth was a major factor, meanwhile, Savage became allied with Sensational Sherri, who had success as a wrestler from 1987–1989 and was phased into a role as an ill-tempered, venomous valet. Sherri initially debuted on July 24,1987 by defeating The Fabulous Moolah for the WWF Womens Championship, also in 1987 Mike McGuirk was introduced as the first female ring announcer of the promotion, arriving after Jesse Ventura referred her to the WWF. In the fall of 1987, McGuirk provided color commentary for several arena show tapings in the Houston, Texas area, the first Survivor Series pay-per-view saw the first female elimination match. In February 1989, the WWF Womens Tag Team Championship was deactivated, Sapphire debuted in November 1989 on Saturday Nights Main Event as a fan cheering on Dusty Rhodes at ringside in his match against Big Boss Man. Sapphire began to manage Rhodes, who adapted Rhodes gimmick as she adorned black outfits with yellow polka dots, Sapphire and Rhodes later feuded with Randy Savage and Sensational Sherri and wrestled in a tag team match at WrestleMania VI. Rockin Robin was the last WWF Womens Champion in the late 1980s, when the WWF phased out its female-talent roster in 1990, Sensational Sherri remained with the company, joining Sapphire and Miss Elizabeth focusing on managing male wrestlers. At WrestleMania IX, Luna Vachon debuted and initially aligned herself with Shawn Michaels, later, she aligned herself with Bam Bam Bigelow to feud with Sherri and Tatanka. Martel left the company in 1993, in 1993, the WWF reinstated its Womens Championship, a title that had been vacant since 1990, and Debrah Miceli was brought in by the company to revive the womens division. She debuted under the ring name Alundra Blayze, because WWF owner Vince McMahon did not want to pay Miceli to use the name Madusa, which she had trademarked. She wrestled in a tournament to crown a new Womens Champion. After the tournament, Miceli asked WWF management to bring in new women for her to wrestle, former champion Leilani Kai briefly returned to the company at WrestleMania X facing Blayze for the Womens title. In mid-1994, Bull Nakano joined the WWF roster and began feuding with Miceli, Blayze defeated Nakano at SummerSlam, but lost the belt to her on November 20,1994 in Japan at the Big Egg Wrestling Universe event

30.
One Night Stand (2008)
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One Night Stand was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment that took place on June 1,2008, at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego. It was the fourth and final event promoted under the One Night Stand name, the event featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The main match on the SmackDown, brand was a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship between Edge and The Undertaker, which Edge won after retrieving the belt suspended above the ring. Per the pre-match stipulation, Undertaker was forced to leave the WWE, the predominant match on the Raw brand was a Last Man Standing match for the WWE Championship between Triple H and Randy Orton, which Triple H won after Orton failed to answer the ten-count. The primary match on the ECW brand was a Singapore Cane match involving The Big Show, CM Punk, John Morrison, Chavo Guerrero, Big Show won the match after pinning Dreamer to become the number-one contender to the ECW Championship at Night of Champions. Featured matches on the undercard included Shawn Michaels versus Batista in a Stretcher match, at Backlash, Randy Orton, Triple H, John Cena, and John Bradshaw Layfield fought in a Fatal 4-Way Elimination match for the WWE Championship. Triple H won the match last eliminating Orton to win the WWE title, at Judgment Day, Triple H retained the WWE Title against Orton in a Steel cage match, after a Pedigree. The next night on Raw, General Manager William Regal booked a tag match, with Orton and JBL facing Cena. If Orton and JBL won, theyd respectively get rematches against Triple H, if Cena and Triple H had won, however, theyd face each other for the WWE Title, with Regal choosing the match type. After Orton and JBL won the tag match, Orton announced that he. JBL announced that he and Cena would compete in a First Blood match at One Night Stand, Batista expressed his remorse over Ric Flairs retirement at WrestleMania, which was caused by Shawn Michaels getting the pinfall over Flair in Flairs Career Threatening Match. During the rivalry, a match between Batista and Michaels took place at Backlash, with Chris Jericho as the special guest referee. At the end of the match, Michaels appeared to suffer an injury, lowering Batistas guard until Michaels sprang up to perform Sweet Chin Music on him. In following weeks, Batista and Jericho remained skeptical about Michaels injury, Batista defeated Jericho on the May 19,2008 episode of Raw to earn the right to face Michaels at One Night Stand in a Stretcher match. At Backlash, The Undertaker defeated Edge to retain the World Heavyweight Championship, on the May 2 episode of SmackDown, General Manager Vickie Guerrero stripped Undertaker of the title and banned his chokehold to protect the SmackDown superstars. At Judgment Day, Undertaker and Edge faced in a match again for the vacant World Heavyweight title, Undertaker won the match by countout, however, Guerrero announced that as per WWE rules, championships cannot change hands, or be captured by disqualification or countout. Later that night, Guerrero and Morrison defeated Dreamer and Punk in a tag team match, after the match, however, Big Show attacked all four superstars. Big Show then announced that hed also compete in the match One Night Stand, the Divas feud heading into One Night Stand was between Beth Phoenix and Melina

31.
Beth Phoenix
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Elizabeth Beth Kocianski-Copeland is a retired American professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Beth Phoenix. She is best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment, where she is a former WWE Divas Champion, Kocianski had a successful amateur wrestling career in high school, before being trained by the All Knighters. After her debut in May 2001, she wrestled for independent promotions. She also appeared at the inaugural Shimmer Women Athletes shows, in 2004, she began working for Ohio Valley Wrestling, and signed a developmental contract with WWE in October 2005. She debuted on WWEs Raw brand in May 2006, but suffered a broken jaw the following month. As a result, she had numerous surgeries and returned to OVW for further training, while there, she won the OVW Womens Championship twice, although her second reign is not officially recognized by OVW. She returned to the Raw brand in July 2007, and was pushed, dominating the other WWE Divas and gaining the nickname. She won her first WWE Womens Championship at the No Mercy pay-per-view in October and she then developed an on-screen relationship with Santino Marella, dubbed Glamarella, and won the Womens Championship for a second time in August 2008, holding it until January 2009. In October 2011, Phoenix won the WWE Divas Championship for the first time, Phoenix retired and left WWE on October 2012 to focus on her family life with boyfriend and later husband Adam Copeland, famous in WWE as Edge, with whom she subsequently had two daughters. On February 27,2017, she was announced as an inductee in the WWE Hall of Fame. Her induction made her the youngest inductee of all time at age 36, the first to be born in the 1980s, additionally, she and Edge became the first real-life couple to both be inducted. Kocianski was born in Elmira, New York and raised by Polish parents, when she was eleven years old, she won a coloring contest with a prize of tickets to a television taping for the World Wrestling Federation. Kocianski credits this as when she fell in love with professional wrestling and she cites Bret Hart, Owen Hart, and Ted DiBiase as her favorite wrestlers. Kocianski attended Notre Dame High School in Elmira, where she played tennis and she was voted prom queen in her senior year. Kocianski is a graduate from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York with a degree in criminal justice. While wrestling in OVW, Kocianski also worked as a waitress at a restaurant known to Elmira natives as Lights Bakery. Kocianski began wrestling on the Notre Dame High School scholastic wrestling team and she was the first female varsity wrestler in the schools history. She became the North-East freestyle womens champion in 1999, and also won at the New York State Fair Tournament the same year, at the time, she was also a member of USA Wrestling, a freestyle wrestling association

32.
Melina Perez
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Melina Perez is an American model, actress, professional wrestler and valet. She is the MCW Womens Champion and Queen of Southside Champion and she is best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Melina. Perez began her career as a beauty pageant contestant, winning several modelling competitions, in 2000, Perez began training to be a professional wrestler at Jesse Hernandezs School of Hard Knocks, and made her debut in 2002. Perez is a three-time WWE Womens Champion, and a two-time WWE Divas Champion, after winning her second WWE Divas Championship, Perez became the first woman in WWE history to become a multiple-time champion with both the Womens and Divas titles. Perez began her career as a beauty pageant contestant, winning Miss Hawaiian Tropic Anaheim, during her modelling career, she has won many modelling competitions such as Group USA Bridal Show, Group USA Fashion Show, and Ms. California Belleza Latina. Melina was body painted by artist Mark Greenawalt for a photo shoot in 2007 where she posed with her WWE Womens Championship belt. Perez began training at Jesse Hernandezs School of Hard Knocks in San Bernardino, California, many officials stated that she had the most natural ability of any woman who came through their school. After she was eliminated from the contest, trainer Al Snow encouraged her to trying to pursue her dream as a wrestler. Perez debuted in WWEs then-developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling in March 2004, the storyline had Matt Cappotelli introduce her to the ring as a way to taunt Hennigan. Melina, however, turned on Cappotelli and aligned herself with Hennigan, soon after, the duo began teaming with Joey Matthews, later known as Joey Mercury. The trio became known as MNM and on November 10, Melina managed Mercury and Nitro to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, during her time in OVW, Melina, Nitro, and Steven Adkins came up with Melinas trademark split ring entrance. Melina made her first Raw appearance on November 29,2004 and she made another Raw appearance in December, participating in a limbo contest when Chris Jericho was General Manager for the night. Melina made her debut in WWE as a villainess, resuming her role as the manager of MNM. The team interrupted the first ever Carlitos Cabana interview segment, where one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions, Melina insulted Mysterio and had Mercury and Nitro attack him, leading to MNMs in-ring debut the next week on SmackDown. in a title match. The team won the match against Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero, starting their first WWE Tag Team Title reign, while managing the Tag Team Champions, Melinas character was developed to be more egotistical, as she declared herself the most-dominant Diva in WWE. In the same night, MNM dropped their championships to the Legion of Doom, prompting a new storyline where Melina hired Jillian Hall, MNM regained the titles on October 28 in a fatal four-Way tag team match. On the Eddie Guerrero Tribute Show, Melina won a Divas battle royal by eliminating the Womens Champion Trish Stratus. The next week, as a part of a new storyline, MNM kidnapped Stratus, tied her up and gagged her for Melina, the two fought at Survivor Series, with Melina losing to Stratus with the help of Mickie James

33.
Impact Wrestling
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Impact Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program produced by the Impact Wrestling promotion. The show, initially known as TNA Impact, debuted in the United States on Fox Sports Net on June 4,2004, where it remained until May 2005. First began airing episodes on Saturday nights, before moving to Thursday nights in April 2006. It briefly moved to Monday nights in 2010 and to Wednesday nights in 2014 until its final broadcast on Spike, in 2015, the show moved to Destination America, initially airing on Friday nights before moving back to Wednesday nights on June 3,2015. Its final broadcast on Destination America was December 16,2015 at 11,00 pm ET, as of January 5,2016, Impact Wrestling airs weekly on Pop in the United States, now airing on Tuesday nights. Starting July 21,2016, the moved to Thursday nights. TNA began taping TNA Impact. that month and aired the first episode on June 4,2004, Impact. was also syndicated throughout Canada on RDS and Europe on The Wrestling Channel and later both Bravo and Bravo 2 in the United Kingdom, as well as Eurosport. After 51 shows TNAs contract with FSN expired in May 2005 and was not renegotiated, the series as a whole gained little success, averaging a 0.3 household rating. TNA was left with no deal and, therefore, had no means of promoting their monthly pay-per-views. Did continue to air on regional networks in place of TNA Xplosion. On July 1, TNA began offering new episodes through their website, first using BitTorrent downloads, to save on production costs, four hours of the show were recorded in a day and made available throughout the subsequent month. Two episodes were taped every other Tuesday, airing them on the subsequent Saturday, TNAs syndication contracts for the show on local TV channels, from after the FSN contract, were converted to contracts for their syndicated show, TNA Xplosion. They were no longer paying for the timeslot, though Spike controlled their advertising revenue, because of viewership growth, Impact. was moved to Thursdays in April 2006, and later to an earlier primetime slot in November. At this time tapings were moved from Tuesdays to Mondays, in June 2006, episodes became available at the iTunes Store. Though they have since been removed, due to further viewership growth, Impact. was expanded to two hours on October 4,2007, still starting at the same time of 9pm. On January 17,2008, Spike presented an event entitled Global Impact, which featured TNA wrestlers in matches against talents from New Japan Pro Wrestling and on March 27,2008, Impact. Aired live for the first time in the history in its regular timeslot. Announced in a release on TNAwrestling. com on April 2,2008, up until then, they had only broadcast their monthly pay-per-view events on Main Event in Australia

34.
Booker T (wrestler)
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Booker T. Huffman Jr. better known by his ring name Booker T, is an American retired professional wrestler and promoter, signed with WWE. He is also the owner and founder of the independent promotion Reality of Wrestling in Texas City, Booker is a six-time world champion, having won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship five times and WWEs World Heavyweight Championship once. He is the first non-mixed race African American to become a champion in WWE. Booker has also gained success as a tag team wrestler. Additionally, he was the winner of the King of the Ring tournament in 2006, the sixteenth Triple Crown Champion, as the ninth Triple Crown Champion in WCW history, Booker is one of four men in history to achieve both the WWE and WCW Triple Crowns. Longtime wrestler Kurt Angle said of Booker, Hes done it all and he legitimately is one of the top five best of all time. Booker was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 6,2013, by his brother, Booker T Huffman was born the youngest of eight children, in Houston Texas. By the time Booker was fourteen, both of his parents had died, and his older brother Lash Stevie Ray Huffman stepped in to raise him, in high school, Booker was a drum major. He also played football and basketball. Booker spent nineteen months in prison after pleading guilty to armed robberies at Wendys restaurants in Houston, Booker and his partners wore Wendys uniforms during the holdups since they had been working there for 2½ years. Booker pleaded guilty in December 1987 to two aggravated robbery counts and was sentenced to five years in prison and he was released after serving about one-third of that term, and was placed on parole until April 1992. As a single father working at a company in Houston, Texas, Huffman was looking to make a better life for himself. His brother Lash suggested that he and Booker check out a new wrestling school being opened, run by Ivan Putski and his boss from the storage company sponsored the money to pay for the wrestling lessons. Booker trained under Scott Casey, who helped to turn Bookers background as a gangster and dancer into sports entertainment, teaching the newcomer in-ring psychology, eight weeks later, Booker debuted as G. I. Bro on Putskis Western Wrestling Alliance Live, the character was a tie-in to the raging Gulf War and the WWFs Sgt. Even though the WWA met its demise some time later, Booker continued to wrestle on the Texas independent circuit, often with his brother Lash and they were spotted by Skandor Akbar who hired them to work for the Global Wrestling Federation, where he and Eddie Gilbert were involved. Gilbert teamed Stevie Ray and Booker T together as the Ebony Experience, during their time with GWF, they held the tag title a total of three times. Subsequently, Booker T and Stevie Ray left the GWF to work for World Championship Wrestling, Booker and his brother Stevie Ray signed with World Championship Wrestling after Sid Vicious recommended they sign with the company

35.
William Mueller
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William Theodore Mueller is an American professional wrestler best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment as Trevor Murdoch. He also wrestled as Stan Dupp, one of the kayfabe cousin stable The Dupps in Extreme Championship Wrestling, WWE, Mueller most recently wrestled for Ring Ka King, TNAs India-based promotion, as Roscoe Jackson. Mueller started his training in Central States Wrestling Alliance, in the Missouri area. He then moved on to World League Wrestling and Harley Races Wrestling Academy training camp in 1999, on April 11,2000, as Trevor Rhodes, he won the WLW Heavyweight Championship by defeating Meng. He then made a name for himself as part of The Dupps, as a team, The Dupps wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling, Ohio Valley Wrestling, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. While in OVW, Mueller teamed with Lance Cade, the team was known as TNT. Mueller signed a WWE development deal in June 2005, Mueller signed a 3-year deal with World Wrestling Entertainment in July,2005. On August 22,2005 a promo was shown showcasing Muellers debut along with the returning Lance Cade and he was repackaged as Trevor Murdoch, and the team was simply known as Cade and Murdoch. Cade, playing a cowboy, while Murdoch appeared to be an angry white trash southern trucker. Cade and Murdoch won their match on the September 5,2005. They defeated World Tag Team Champions Hurricane and Rosey in a non-title match, during the match, Murdoch delivered an elevated DDT on The Hurricane to the outside, causing The Hurricane to suffer a stinger. This allowed Cade and Murdoch to win the World Tag Team Championship and they would eventually lose their title at Taboo Tuesday to Big Show and Kane. On November 28 during his match against Shelton Benjamin, commentator Joey Styles acknowledged that Murdoch and it was revealed on WWE Unlimited, that Trevor Murdoch set his sights on Ric Flair and the WWE Intercontinental Championship. On Unlimited, Murdoch had been reviewing movies that were, at the time, playing in theaters, such as Brokeback Mountain, King Kong, the first two movie reviews displayed various sexual habits, while the third showed cruelty in his past. The underlying point of all the reviews that Murdoch was trying to convey is that he believes city folk have quite an easy life, as opposed to his. After breaking up with Cade, he wrestled in singles competition on Heat, normally winning most of his matches while still making small appearances on Raw. He would also have a feud with The Heart Throbs on Heat which involved him defeating both of them in singles action and gaining a spot in the 2006 Royal Rumble, though he did not win. He then moved on to a feud with Goldust but was unsuccessful in beating him

36.
A.J. Styles
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Allen Neal Jones, best known by the ring name A. J. Styles, is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE on the SmackDown brand. Styles, who has long regarded as one of the worlds greatest professional wrestlers, is widely known for his tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from 2002–2013. While in TNA, Styles held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship twice and he was also the first X Division Champion, a title he held six times. Styles is the first professional wrestler ever to complete the TNA Triple Crown, in 2010, Styles became the first ever TNA-contracted wrestler to be ranked number one on the annual Pro Wrestling Illustrated PWI500 list. He simultaneously appeared in Ring of Honor from 2002–2006, winning the ROH World Tag Team Championship, in 2014, he signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in his first match with the company, later becoming the leader of the Bullet Club. He has also competed extensively on the independent circuit, winning titles such as the PWG World Championship, Styles first appeared in WWE in 2002, but turned down a developmental deal he was offered with the company. He signed a contract with WWE fourteen years later in January 2016. Also in 2016, both PWI and Wrestling Observer Newsletter voted Styles as the Wrestler of the Year, Jones was born in Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. He grew up in poverty with an abusive, alcoholic father and he attended Johnson High School in Gainesville, Georgia, graduating in the class of 1996. He left college to try wrestling, entering a professional wrestling school because his friends were doing it. To supplement his income, he worked by mowing lawns and driving an ambulance, Jones was trained by Rick Michaels and debuted in 1998. In the Georgia-based National Championship Wrestling promotion he wrestled as Mr. Olympia, by August 1999, he had won the promotions Television Championship. From 1999 to 2001, he competed in less notable independent promotions, in December 1999, NCW merged with NWA Georgia to form NWA Wildside, and Jones was renamed A. J. He appeared sporadically even after signing with NWA-TNA, and is a former NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion, on October 26,2001, Styles participated in All Pro Wrestlings King of Indies tournament. He defeated Jardi Frantz in his first round match, but was eliminated by Christopher Daniels in the finals the following night. Later that night, Styles defeated Josh Mathews in a match taped for XWF television, the following night, Styles was defeated by Daniels, again in a match taped for the XWF television program. On April 7, Styles teamed with Chuck E. Chaos to face Jerry Lynn, on April 10, Styles faced Lynn and Nova in a three-way-dance, in a losing effort

37.
TNA Television Championship
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The TNA Television Championship was a professional wrestling championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling professional wrestling promotion. It was introduced on the October 23,2008 episode of TNAs television program TNA Impact. as the TNA Legends Championship and it was later known as the TNA Global Championship and the TNA King of the Mountain Championship. The title appeared in Global Force Wrestling, during a talent exchange partnership, as a professional wrestling championship, it was won via a scripted ending to a match or awarded to a wrestler because of a storyline. All title changes occurred at TNA-promoted events, reigns that occurred on TNA Impact. or its later title Impact Wrestling, usually aired on tape delay. The first champion was Booker T, the final champion was Lashley, as the title was retired on August 12,2016. There were a total of 25 reigns among 19 wrestlers, the title was introduced during a storyline that pitted young talent within the company against veterans of professional wrestling. In the weeks leading up to the unveiling of the physical belt, on the October 23,2008, episode of Impact. Booker T introduced the belt by removing it from the briefcase, announcing its name as the TNA Legends Championship, and declaring himself the first champion. He went on to state that the championship was his and that he would defend it when he saw fit, on March 15,2009, at TNAs Destination X pay-per-view event, A. J. Styles defeated Booker T to win the championship, afterwards on the March 19,2009, episode of Impact. Styles was credited as becoming the first-ever TNA Grand Slam Champion, by winning the World Heavyweight, the World Tag Team, the TNA X Division Championship, on the October 29,2009, episode of Impact. Then-champion Eric Young renamed the title the TNA Global Championship and he went on to declare that he was not going to defend it against any American wrestlers nor on American soil. However, Youngs first defense was on the December 10,2009, episode of Impact. in Orlando, on the July 22,2010, episode of Impact. Terry lost the Global Championship to A. J, styles then renamed the title the TNA Television Championship on the July 29,2010, episode of Impact. On the April 19,2012, episode of the newly titled Impact Wrestling, the weekly title defenses lasted until the June 21,2012, episode of Impact Wrestling. On July 3,2014, TNA Executive Director Kurt Angle declared the championship inactive, the title was reactivated on June 25,2015, by TNA under the new name the TNA King of the Mountain Championship. TNA announced that a new champion would be determined in a King of the Mountain match at their Slammiversary PPV event on June 28, jeff Jarrett defeated Matt Hardy, Eric Young, Drew Galloway, and Bobby Roode to win the newly titled championship at the event. Due to Jarrett having founded and currently running GFW, it was suspected in the storyline that Jarrett may defend the championship in that promotion, the title ended up appearing in GFW at a July 9 live event where Young attacked Jarrett and stole the championship belt

38.
Jenna Morasca
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Jenna Morasca is an American actress, former swimsuit model and American reality TV contestant who was the million-dollar grand prize winner of Survivor, The Amazon in 2003. In 2009 she worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, in 2011, Morasca and her then-boyfriend, fellow Survivor winner Ethan Zohn, participated in the 19th season of The Amazing Race. They were one of the two teams eliminated in a double-elimination, finished 10th for the season, Morasca was born and still resides near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Before appearing on Survivor, Morasca was a student at the University of Pittsburgh. She also worked as a swimsuit model, morascas Survivor career began on Survivor, The Amazon, in which she was originally part of the all-female Jaburu tribe. During one immunity challenge, Morasca and fellow contestant Heidi Strobel stripped off their clothes for peanut butter, after making the merge, Morasca was relatively safe at the start as the majority of the tribe chose to vote off outcasts Roger Sexton and Dave Johnson. With eight players remaining, the new alliance of Morasca, Strobel, Alex Bell and Rob Cesternino targeted Deena Bennett, at the Final Seven, Cesternino betrayed his alliance by voting out Bell. At the Final Six, Morasca and Strobel scrambled to stay in the game, trying to break up the alliance of Cesternino, Matthew Von Ertfelda and Butch Lockley. When Christy Smith would not commit to either side, Cesternino convinced Morasca and Strobel to help vote out Smith, at the Final Five, Strobel was voted out, but Morasca won the next immunity, protecting her in the vote of the Final Four. Morasca, Cesternino and Von Ertfelda to voted out Lockley, Morasca again won the next immunity challenge and voted off Cesternino. Morasca beat Von Ertfelda in a 6–1 vote to become the Sole Survivor, Morasca was the youngest contestant to ever win Survivor until Jud Fabio Birza won Survivor, Nicaragua, though Morasca remains the youngest female contestant to win Survivor. In 2004, Morasca was invited back for Survivor, All-Stars, as part of the Mogo Mogo tribe, Morasca and her tribe won immunity in the first two episodes. However, in three, Morasca decided to quit the game, regretting leaving her dying mother, who had been in a battle with cancer for 12 years. Her mother died eight days after Jenna returned home, in 2005, Morasca replaced Richard Hatch as co-host of CBSs Survivor Live, an internet talk show devoted to the current season of Survivor. She has since hosted the show throughout five entire seasons - Survivor, Palau, Survivor, Guatemala, Survivor, Panama, Survivor, Cook Islands and Survivor, in 2003, Morasca had a part in the Off Broadway play Pieces. In 2004, she was on the Board of Directors for Animal Friends in Pittsburgh, in 2005, she appeared in a minor role in the made-for-TV movie The Scorned. Morasca was a contestant on the February 28,2005 episode of Fear Factor and she was eliminated in the second round by Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth. In October 2006, she appeared in the episode of Celebrity Paranormal Project on VH-1

39.
Lucha Underground
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Lucha Underground is a professional wrestling promotion and serial drama television series owned and produced by the United Artists Media Group. AAA also owns a percentage of Lucha Underground, the series premiered with its first season on October 29,2014, that ran for 39 episodes. The second season of Lucha Underground started on January 27,2016, prior to the taping of the last Lucha Underground episode for season 2, it was announced that the show had been renewed for a third season which premiered on September 7,2016. It was also revealed that episodes from the show would be available on iTunes for purchase, on February 1,2017, it was announced that Lucha Underground had signed a deal with Netflix in the US & Canada. Season 1 and season 2 of the series available on March 15,2017. In July 2014, the show was tentatively called Lucha, Uprising. In August 2014, the show was renamed as Lucha Underground, and it was announced that five AAA wrestlers would join the show, namely Blue Demon Jr. Sexy Star, Fénix, Drago, and Pentagón Jr. The show would be taped in front of an audience in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. The series premiered on October 29,2014, on the El Rey Network and airs on Wednesdays at 8,00 p. m. ET. and in Spanish on November 1,2014, on UniMás where it aired on Saturdays at 4,00 p. m. El Rey is available through cable and satellite television companies Comcast, Time Warner, Cox Communications, DirecTV, Bright House Networks, Dish Network, UniMás is available on DirecTV and Dish Network. Unlike other promotions, matches are shown in their entirety without commercials, with the exception of the Aztec Warfare matches. Johnny Mundo won the event of the seriess debut episode on October 29,2014. On January 7,2015, Prince Puma was crowned the first Lucha Underground Champion when he won the Aztec Warfare match, on April 22,2015, Angélico, Ivelisse, and Son of Havoc were crowned the first Lucha Underground Trios Champions when they won the Trios Tournament. On March 25,2015, it was announced that Lucha Underground would be holding their first major event in early August 2015 entitled Ultima Lucha. as Team Lucha Underground. During Ultima Lucha, it was established that Lucha Underground would be moving out of the Temple in Boyle Heights to Find someplace safe as a war has been started, following the death of El Dragon Azteca. Dario Cueto took Lotus and his brother and got into an SUV, leaving the Temple, on September 21,2015, it was announced that Lucha Underground would be returning for a second season. The first tapings for season 2 took place on November 14/15,2015, in the storyline, Dario Cueto is missing and in his absence Catrina & Mil Muertes are in charge of The Temple. However, it is revealed that he has been secretly training his brother Matanza at another temple hundreds of miles away

40.
Cheerleader Melissa
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Melissa Anderson is an American professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Cheerleader Melissa. She is best known for her work in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and she is currently performing on the independent circuit for promotions such as Pro Wrestling Revolution and Shimmer Women Athletes, where she is a former two-time Shimmer Champion. In 2013, Anderson was ranked #1 in Pro Wrestling Illustrateds annual Top 50 Females list, Andersons father wrestled professionally in the early 1980s. While training at Billy Andersons school, she met the Ballard Brothers who were using the gimmick of hockey players and they were looking for a valet and due to their sporting gimmick, Anderson took on the role of a heel and the gimmick of a cheerleader. They toured the West Coast, mostly appearing with All Pro Wrestling where she would interfere in matches, after gaining experience from ring side, Cheerleader Melissa eventually had her first proper match on her 17th birthday against Lexie Fyfe in a losing effort at an outdoor carnival event. In 2001 she entered into Ultimate Pro Wrestling and lost a tag team match alongside Looney Lane which led to a feud between the two. The following year, in the summer of 2002, Anderson was personally invited to wrestle and she was selected alongside Taylor Matheny who had recently received exposure in World Wrestling Entertainments Tough Enough program, and thus Anderson received much internet attention by association. Among the rigorous training schedule she wrestled what she claims to be some of her matches, particularly a 15-minute draw against Rie Tamada. Also as a present for her 20th birthday, she was allowed to tag team with veteran female wrestler Lioness Asuka, after Anderson returned from Japan, she became a full-time wrestler. Moving on from her pre-Japan feud with Nikki, she continued to wrestle for APW winning its Above The Law Championship from Robert Thompson in July 2004. Under her reign it was renamed the Future Legends Championship, the title under which she lost it to Daizee Haze the following year winning it back. In October, APW associated itself with the newly formed, all-female tournament-cum-promotion ChickFight and she would become a staple of ChickFight, appearing at the first ten of their major events, missing the eleventh event due to injury sustained less than a week before the show. As Anderson celebrated her tournament victory Saraya reappeared and threatened her and she was forced to forfeit her ChickFight IX, Our Final Chance match the following day and would not wrestle again for six months. Meanwhile, Anderson had begun a new feud and she did not participate in the tournament at ChickFight VIII but instead had a rematch against Eden Black for the newly created Transatlantic Womens Championship, which she won. Later in the show she successfully defended the title against Croatian wrestler Wesna Busic, the two had met years previously when her internet celebrity saw her invited to German Stampede Wrestling to face Wesna in a losing effort at International Impact I. CF XI was originally slated to be a two out of three match to find a decisive victory until Anderson pulled out due to injury. Their feud was picked up the year for Shimmer Women Athletes at Volume 23 in May 2009. The company preluded the match with a video showing their matches in Europe

41.
World Championship Wrestling
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WCW Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion, historically based in Atlanta, Georgia. Immediately after the buyout, the business was renamed the Universal Wrestling Corporation, WCW also developed a popular cruiserweight division. WCW eclipsed the WWF in popularity throughout the United States for much of the latter-1990s, however, numerous financial, Turner owned WCW until 2001, when selected assets were purchased by the WWF. Since 2001, WCW images and video footage have been distributed in WWE-owned media. Two separate subsidiary companies exist as successors to WCW, WCW, Inc. is the WWE subsidiary established in Delaware in late 2000, initially as W. Acquisition Company, which holds the rights to the WCW video library and other intellectual property. The former WCW entity, which retained liabilities not acquired by WWE, was renamed back to the Universal Wrestling Corporation, the name World Championship Wrestling was first used as a brand and television show title in 1982. Jim Barnett came to Atlanta in the 1970s during a struggle over Georgia Championship Wrestling. Barnett ultimately became majority owner of the promotion, and began using his previous name for his new promotions television program in 1982. The promotion was purchased by Jim Crockett Promotions. However, it was not until November 2,1988 that an actual, National Wrestling Alliance -affiliated promotion called World Championship Wrestling appeared on the national scene and this entity was under the ownership of media mogul and cable-TV pioneer Ted Turner, based in Atlanta, Georgia. WCW went through changes in business and creative leadership during its existence. Once Bischoff was relieved of his duties in 1999, Vince Russo, the two, however, did not get along well and Bischoff soon resigned from the sinking company. It was only a few months later that Russo would also depart after suffering from a concussion at the hands of Bill Goldberg, following Russos departure, the creative needs of the WCW were handled by a booking committee which included Johnny Ace and Terry Taylor. From 2000 to 2001, Monster Jam had a series of trucks based on wrestlers names. These include nWo, Sting, Nitro Machine, Madusa and Goldberg, the first to go was nWo, which only ran for a season. Next, all but Goldberg, Nitro, and Madusa were retired after the WCW sponsorship was lost, Nitro then became Flashfire, and then was converted into Inferno. Madusa has stayed the same since its creation, because it is driven by former WCW wrestler Debrah Miceli, as for Goldberg, it was changed to Team Meents in 2002, then into Maximum Destruction, which debuted in 2003 and continues to compete in the series. WCW also had a presence in NASCAR from the mid-1990s to 2000, sponsoring the #29 team in the Busch Grand National Series full-time and the #9 Melling Racing team in the Winston Cup Series part-time

42.
Brian Pillman
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Pillman created a legacy as The Loose Cannon, a wrestling gimmick that would see him do a series of worked shoots that would gain him a degree of infamy for his unpredictable character. He was also known for being extremely agile in the ring, Pillman was born on May 22,1962 to a Welsh mother named Mary and he had three sisters, two of them named Angie and Linda and a brother. His father died of an attack when Pillman was three months old. As a child, Pillman developed multiple throat polyps and underwent between thirty-one and thirty-six operations to tend to them, many before the age of three, due to his medical issues Pillman spent a large part of his early childhood in a hospital, only going home for Christmas. Because of this Pillmans mother chose to send him to a school so that he could spend more time with his friends which led him to become the only Presbyterian in his otherwise Catholic family. Pillman graduated from Norwood High School in Norwood, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, while attending Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Pillman played football for the then-Redskins as a defensive tackle where he set records in the tackles for loss category. Pillman also played for the Buffalo Bills in preseason action in 1985 and his attempts to make the roster of the Bengals were covered in a series of articles in The Cincinnati Enquirer. Pillman and John Harbaugh, current head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, were roommates, following the end of his football career, Pillman remained in Canada and began training as a wrestler under Stu Hart and his sons. He debuted in November 1986 in Harts Calgary-based Stampede Wrestling promotion, Pillman quickly formed a tag team with Harts son Bruce known as Bad Company. In April 1987, Bad Company won the Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship by defeating Ron Starr and their reign lasted until October 1987, when the titles were held up following a controversial ending to a match between Bad Company and their opponents, Jerry Morrow and Makhan Singh. Bad Company defeated Morrow and Singh in a rematch in November 1987 to regain the titles, eventually losing them to Morrow and the Cuban Assassin in July 1988. Pillman finished up with Stampede on August 13,1988, teaming up with Bruce Hart and Jason the Terrible to defeat The Great Gama, Makhan Singh and he would head to the Continental Wrestling Association in Memphis to continue his career. In 1989, Pillman returned to the United States and began wrestling for World Championship Wrestling and he was one of the first American wrestlers to incorporate a variety of Mexican lucha libre moves into his arsenal. He held the NWA United States Tag Team Championship with The Z-Man Tom Zenk between February 1990 and May 1990, Pillman later feuded with Barry Windham, who he harassed while dressed as the masked Yellow Dog after losing a Loser Leaves WCW. He also held the short-lived WCW Light Heavyweight Championship twice between October 1991 and February 1992, feuding with Brad Armstrong, Jushin Thunder Liger, Richard Morton, and Scotty Flamingo. In November 1992, he formed a team with Barry Windham, gunning for the NWA and WCW World Tag Team Championships held by Ricky Steamboat, Windham and Pillman lost to Steamboat and Douglas at Starrcade on December 28. Their team lasted until January 1993, as Windham had his sights on the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, Pillman continued the tag team title hunt by forming a tag team with Stunning Steve Austin known as the Hollywood Blonds. On the March 27,1993 episode of Power Hour, the duo won the championships from Steamboat and they would lose the NWA and WCW World Tag Team Titles to Anderson and Paul Roma at Clash of the Champions XXIV

43.
Glossary of professional wrestling terms
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Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable nomenclature throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence of fans so as not to reveal the nature of the business. In recent years, widespread discussion on the Internet has popularized these terms, many of the terms refer to the financial aspects of professional wrestling in addition to performance-related terms. A-show A wrestling event where a companys biggest draws wrestle, a-team A group of a wrestling promotions top stars who compete at an A-show. Abort To discontinue a feud, angle, or gimmick suddenly, usually without explanation or due to a lack of fan interest, ace A term typically only used in Japanese puroresu for a wrestler designated as the face of the promotion. Not necessarily the same as the top champion, examples of modern aces include Hiroshi Tanahashi in New Japan Pro Wrestling and Suwama in All Japan Pro Wrestling. Agent A management employee, often a former wrestler, who helps set up matches, plans storylines. Often acts as a liaison between wrestlers and higher-level management, referred to as producers by WWE and sometimes by other companies. Sometimes they help train and teach younger active wrestlers and give criticism, Alliance A cooperative relationship developed between two or more wrestlers, whether wrestling as a tag team or in individual matches. Alliances are often formed for the purpose of retaining titles between the members of the alliance, or to counter a specific foe or group of foes. The formation of an alliance can be a storyline of its own, an angle usually begins when one wrestler attacks another, which results in revenge. An angle may be as small as a match or a vendetta that lasts for years. It is not uncommon to see an angle become retconned due to it not getting over with the fans, Apter mag An old-style professional wrestling magazine that sticks to kayfabe articles. The term refers to the magazines at one time connected to journalist Bill Apter, B-show A wrestling event featuring the middle and lower-level talent of a wrestling promotion. Sometimes includes well-known wrestlers making a return or finishing up their career, b-team The group of wrestlers on a B-show. Babyface A wrestler positioned as a hero, who the crowd are typically cheering for in a match, often simply known as a face. Beat down A situation in which a wrestler or other performer is the recipient of a one-sided beating, blading A wrestler intentionally cutting themself to provoke bleeding

44.
Dorling Kindersley
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Dorling Kindersley is a British multinational publishing company specializing in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 62 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a publishing company jointly owned by Bertelsmann SE & Co. Bertelsmann owns 53% of the company and Pearson owns 47%, DK has offices in New York, Melbourne, London, Munich, New Delhi and Toronto. Dorling Kindersley was founded as a company by Christopher Dorling and Peter Kindersley in London in 1974. DK Inc. began publishing in the United States in 1991, in 1999 it overestimated the market for Star Wars books and was left with millions of unsold copies, resulting in crippling debt. As a direct result, DK was taken over the year by the Pearson PLC media company and made part of Penguin Group. DK has continued to sell Star Wars books after the takeover, in 2013 Bertelsmann and Pearson Completed a merger to form Penguin Random House. Bertelsmann owns 53% and Pearson 47% of the company, penguins trade publishing activity continued to include DK under the newly formed Penguin Random House. Dorling Kindersley publishes a range of titles internationally for adults and children, most of the companys books are produced by teams of editors and designers who work with freelance writers and illustrators. Some are endorsed by imprimaturs, well-known and respected such as the British Medical Association, the Royal Horticultural Society. Some DK books apparently produced by celebrity authors such as Carol Vorderman are actually ghostwritten by the companys own writers and editors, BradyGames is a publishing company in the United States operating as a DK imprint, which specializes in video game strategy guides, covering multiple video game platforms. It published their first strategy guide in November 1993 as a division of MacMillan Computer Publishing, in 1998, Simon & Schuster divested BradyGames as part of its educational division to Pearson PLC. BradyGames has grown to publish roughly 90-100 guides per year, on 1 June 2015, BradyGames merged with Prima Games, and future strategy guides made by the publishing company will be published under the Prima Games label. During the 1990s, the company published educational videos and a range of educational CD-ROMs under the brand DK Multimedia. During the late 1990s CD-ROMs were rebranded as DK Interactive Learning to reflect an emphasis toward the educational sector. The DK Online section of the business transferred into development work on the anglicised version of the Pearson Education KnowledgeBox product. In December 2010 DK opened an app store, selling digital versions of some of its books as well as products from other publishers, DK commenced publishing books aimed at teens with the release of Heads Up Psychology in May 2014 and further titles following every two to three months. Infographics, sidebars, and photos both create a visual layout and underscore the concepts discussed

Professional wrestling
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Professional wrestling is an athletic form of entertainment that portrays a combat sport. Various forms of weaponry are sometimes used, the content – including match outcomes – is scripted and choreographed, and the combative actions and reactions are performed to appear violent without injuring the wrestlers. Before the 1980s, these facts were con

1.
A professional wrestling match in Sikeston, Missouri in May 1938. Two wrestlers grapple in a wrestling ring while a referee (in white, right) looks on.

2.
A wrestler (Christopher Daniels) leaps off the top rope

3.
WWE Money in the Bank Ladder Match, 2009

4.
A tag team match in progress - Jeff Hardy kicks Umaga, while their respective partners, Triple H and Randy Orton, encourage them and reach for the tags.

Professional wrestling match types
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Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called concept or gimmick matches in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some of them occur relatively frequently, while others are developed so as to advance an angle, because of professional wrestlings long history over decades, many things have been recycled. These match

1.
In keeping with the theme, the wrestlers outside the ring may wear flannel shirts during Lumberjack matches. 1–2–3 Kid circa 1995.

2.
Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels on a table at a 2008 house show in Puerto Rico.

3.
A cage match.

4.
The Elimination Chamber structure.

Microphone
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A microphone, colloquially nicknamed mic or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Several different types of microphone are in use, which employ different methods to convert the air pressure variations of a wave to an electrical signal. Microphones typically need to be connected to a preamplifier before the signal can

1.
An AKG C214 condenser microphone with shock mount

2.
A Sennheiser dynamic microphone

3.
David Edward Hughes invented a carbon microphone in the 1870s.

4.
Jack Brown interviews Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall for broadcast to troops overseas during World War II.

Submission match
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Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called concept or gimmick matches in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some of them occur relatively frequently, while others are developed so as to advance an angle, because of professional wrestlings long history over decades, many things have been recycled. These match

1.
In keeping with the theme, the wrestlers outside the ring may wear flannel shirts during Lumberjack matches. 1–2–3 Kid circa 1995.

2.
Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels on a table at a 2008 house show in Puerto Rico.

3.
A cage match.

4.
The Elimination Chamber structure.

Submission (combat sport)
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A submission is a combat sports term for yielding to the opponent, and hence resulting in an immediate defeat. In some combative sports where the fighter has cornermen, the corner can also stop the fight by throwing in the towel, which may count as a submission. A technical submission may occur when the referee or doctor stops the fight because a f

1.
Submissions are often done in grappling by tapping the opponent with the hand.

Kayfabe
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Kayfabe has also evolved to become a code word of sorts for maintaining this reality within the direct or indirect presence of the general public. In relative terms, a wrestler breaking kayfabe during a show would be likened to breaking character by an actor on-camera, in 1989, World Wrestling Federation owner Vince McMahon testified before the New

1.
Batista and Chris Jericho.

National Wrestling Alliance
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The National Wrestling Alliance is a professional wrestling governing body which has historically been the largest league of independent wrestling promotions in the world. The organization sanctions various NWA championship bouts within its member promotions, the NWA has been in operation since 1948. Prior to the 1960s, it acted as the governing bo

1.
For the professional wrestling stable, see The NWA (wrestling stable).

2.
National Wrestling Alliance

Jim Crockett Promotions
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Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. was a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1931, the promotion emerged as a cornerstone of the National Wrestling Alliance, by the 1980s, Jim Crockett Promotions was, along with the World Wrestling Federation, one of the two largest promotion

1.
Jim Crockett Promotions, Inc.

Starrcade (1985)
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Starrcade was the third annual Starrcade professional wrestling event produced by Jim Crockett Promotions under the National Wrestling Alliance banner. It took place on November 28,1985 from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina and The Omni in Atlanta and it aired live on closed-circuit television. The main event was between Ric Fl

1.
DVD cover featuring Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes.

2.
Ric Flair, the NWA World Heavyweight Champion in 1985.

3.
Dusty Rhodes, after winning the NWA World Heavyweight Championship

Tully Blanchard
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Tully Arthur Blanchard is a Canadian-born American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and he was inducted into the NWA Hall of Fame in 2009 and the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012. As the son of wrestling promoter and former American Wrestling Association star Joe Blanchard and he began selling

1.
Blanchard in August 2014

2.
Blanchard (right) with Arn Anderson as the Brain Busters.

WWE United States Championship
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The WWE United States Championship is a professional wrestling championship promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the Raw brand. Along with the Intercontinental Championship on the SmackDown brand, it is one of the two titles of the promotion. It is currently held by Kevin Owens, who is in his first reign, Harley Race was

1.
The current WWE United States Championship belt

2.
Current champion Alberto Del Rio

Royal Rumble (1999)
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Royal Rumble was the twelfth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on January 24,1999, at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim in Anaheim, California. The title of the event was taken from a promise by Mr. McMahon that the first entrant in the Royal Rumble, Stone Cold Steve

1.
Promotional poster featuring Steve Austin

2.
Shawn Michaels used his role as Commissioner to ruin Mr. McMahon's attempts to enter the Royal Rumble at #30 twice

3.
Sable fought Luna Vachon in a strap match

4.
Mabel was kidnapped by The Ministry of Darkness in the Royal Rumble match

Dwayne Johnson
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Dwayne Douglas Johnson, also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor, producer, singer, and professional wrestler. He holds American and Canadian citizenships and he later played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League and was cut two months into the 1995 season. This led him to become a professional wrestler like h

1.
Johnson at the premiere of Hercules in Sydney in June 2014

2.
As part of The Corporation, The Rock feuded with Stone Cold Steve Austin and stole Austin's personalized WWF Championship, the Smoking Skull belt.

3.
The Rock's popularity was fueled by his charisma and speaking abilities, which led to many catchphrases and merchandising opportunities.

4.
The Rock as the WWF Champion in 2000

Mick Foley
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Foley has wrestled under his real name and various personas, including Dude Love, Cactus Jack, and Mankind, also known as the Three Faces of Foley. He is a world champion, an 11-time world tag team champion, a one-time TNA Legends Champion. Foley was born in Bloomington, Indiana and he had an older brother named John. Soon after, Foleys family move

1.
Foley, during a visit to the Center for the Intrepid in San Antonio, Texas on September 26, 2008.

2.
Aftermath of the botched hangman spot resulting in the loss of Foley's ear.

4.
Undertaker looking down at the fallen Foley after the cage giving way.

WWE
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WWE also refers to the professional wrestling promotion itself, founded by Jess McMahon and Toots Mondt in 1952 as Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. As of 2016, it is the largest wrestling promotion in the world, holding over 500 events a year, the companys global headquarters is located in Stamford, Connecticut, with offices in major cities acros

Handcuffs
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Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individuals wrists close together. They comprise two parts, linked together by a chain, a hinge, or rigid bar, each half has a rotating arm which engages with a ratchet that prevents it from being opened once closed around a persons wrist. Without the key, the handcuffs cannot be removed and so

1.
Hiatt type 2010 handcuffs. Circa 1990s

2.
Hiatt type 104 "Darby" handcuffs and key. Circa 1950s

3.
Dutch police handcuffs

4.
Handcuffs which were worn during trials by the accused in the assassination of President Lincoln.

Public address
–
Simple PA systems are often used in small venues such as school auditoriums, churches, and small bars. Intercom systems, installed in buildings, have both speakers throughout a building, and microphones in many rooms allowing the occupants to respond to announcements. Sound reinforcement systems and PA systems may use some similar components, Sound

1.
Horn loudspeakers are often used to broadcast sound in outdoor locations

Triple H
–
Paul Michael Levesque, better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive and professional wrestler. Levesque is the Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative for WWE, as well as being the founder and senior producer of NXT, Levesque commenced his professional wrestling career in the International Wrestling

Kane (wrestler)
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Glenn Thomas Jacobs, better known by the ring name Kane, is a Spanish-born American professional wrestler, Insurer and actor. He is signed on the WWE, where he is working on the SmackDown brand. Jacobs began his wrestling career on the independent circuit in 1992. He wrestled in promotions such as Smoky Mountain Wrestling and the United States Wres

1.
Kane, on the cover of the PPV poster of No Way Out of Texas, from February 1998.

2.
Kane in July 2013.

3.
Kane in 2003, wearing his half mask weeks before his unmasking on Raw.

4.
Kane in a steel cage match against Edge.

Chyna
–
Joan Marie Laurer, also known by her ring name Chyna, was an American professional wrestler, glamour model, pornographic film actress, and bodybuilder. Chyna first rose to prominence in the World Wrestling Federation in 1997, a founding member of the stable D-Generation X as the promotions first female enforcer, she held the WWF Intercontinental Ch

1.
Joanie Laurer at the 2007 Scream Awards

2.
Chyna in 1997

3.
Chyna at King of the Ring with Eddie Guerrero during their romance angle; Guerrero would often give Chyna flowers before a match.

4.
Chyna autographing her issue of Playboy, on October 8, 2007

John Cena
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John Felix Anthony Cena Jr. is an American professional wrestler, rapper, actor, and reality television show host. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand, Cena started his professional wrestling career in 1999 with Ultimate Pro Wrestling and won the UPW Heavyweight Championship the following year. Cena signed a contract with

WWE Championship
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The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE on the SmackDown brand. It is one of two titles in the WWE, alongside the WWE Universal Championship that was created for the Raw brand as a result of the 2016 WWE draft. The title is held by Randy Orton, who is in his

1.
The current WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt with default side plates

2.
A diagram showing the evolution of various world heavyweight championships

3.
Inaugural champion Buddy Rogers (shown here in the early 60s)

4.
Two-time champion and WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino, whose seven year-plus (2,803 day) first reign as champion is the longest in history

John Layfield
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He also is a regular panelist on the Saturday morning Fox News show Bulls & Bears. Outside of his WWE work, Layfield is a financial analyst for Fox News, within WWE, he was previously known by the ring name Bradshaw, and prior to that, the variations Justin Bradshaw and Blackjack Bradshaw. As JBL, Layfield was WWE Champion for 281 days from 2004–20

1.
John Layfield signing autographs in December 2008.

2.
Bradshaw during his time with the Acolytes Protection Agency.

3.
Layfield at a 2002 house show during his time as Bradshaw.

4.
John "Bradshaw" Layfield, during his reign as WWE Champion.

Judgment Day (2005)
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Judgment Day was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment. It was the annual event of the same name and took place on May 22,2005, at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The event featured wrestlers and other talent that performed on the SmackDown, the main event was an I Quit match featuring two wrestlers

1.
Promotional poster featuring John Cena

2.
John Cena as WWE Champion

3.
Eddie Guerrero, who faced off against Rey Mysterio

4.
Booker T, who faced off against Kurt Angle

No Mercy (2003)
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It was the sixth event under the No Mercy chronology and starred wrestlers from the SmackDown. Nine professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the events card, two featured bouts were scheduled on the undercard. In a standard match for the WWE United States Championship, the Big Show defeated Eddie Guerrero to win the title, the other was als

Vince McMahon
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Vincent Kennedy Vince McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, former commentator, announcer, film producer, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Since taking over the company from his father in the 1980s and he currently serves as the majority owner, chairman, and CEO of the professional wrestling promotion. McMahon has also co

1.
Vince McMahon

3.
Vince McMahon in 1984, after the WWF purchased the assets of Georgia Championship Wrestling and (by association) its national television timeslot on Superstation WTBS

4.
Vince McMahon after losing the match at King of the Ring in 2000

Stephanie McMahon
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Stephanie McMahon Levesque, also known professionally as Stephanie McMahon, is an American businesswoman, and Chief Brand Officer of WWE. She is currently the commissioner of WWEs weekly television show Raw. She is the great-granddaughter of Roderick Jess McMahon, granddaughter of Vincent J. McMahon began appearing regularly on-air for WWE in 1999

Linda McMahon
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Linda Marie McMahon is an American professional wrestling magnate and politician who is currently the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, under the Trump Administration. McMahon was active with WWE from 1980 to 2009, during this time, the company grew from a small regional business in the North East to a large multinational corporat

1.
Linda McMahon in 2009

2.
Linda McMahon's parents were both employees at nearby Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point

3.
Chair shots to the head were discontinued by the WWE as a result to prevent future concussions.

4.
The WWF Get R.E.A.L program encouraged literacy with posters. In 2000, this poster was a bestseller across U.S. libraries nationwide

WWE Diva
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Diva was a term used by WWE, an American professional wrestling promotion, to refer to its female performers. The term was applied to women who appear as wrestlers, managers or valets, backstage interviewers, thus, The Fabulous Moolahs reign was considered to have lasted 27 years by the promotion. WWF also introduced the WWF Womens Tag Team Champio

1.
Divas (with Santino Marella disguised as a Diva "Santina") fighting in a battle royal at WrestleMania 25

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The Fabulous Moolah (above) wrestling Wendi Richter during the height of her involvement in the "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection".

3.
Miss Elizabeth played a central role in the storyline between WrestleMania IV and WrestleMania V.

4.
Alundra Blayze as WWF Women's Champion.

One Night Stand (2008)
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One Night Stand was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment that took place on June 1,2008, at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego. It was the fourth and final event promoted under the One Night Stand name, the event featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The main match on the Smac

1.
Promotional poster featuring Kane

2.
Stage setup for One Night Stand.

Beth Phoenix
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Elizabeth Beth Kocianski-Copeland is a retired American professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Beth Phoenix. She is best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment, where she is a former WWE Divas Champion, Kocianski had a successful amateur wrestling career in high school, before being trained by the All Knighters. After h

1.
Phoenix in December 2011

2.
Phoenix during an OVW show in July 2005.

3.
Phoenix just after win the Women's Championship at No Mercy.

4.
Phoenix (right) and Santino Marella in November 2008 as the Women's and Intercontinental champions, respectively.

Melina Perez
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Melina Perez is an American model, actress, professional wrestler and valet. She is the MCW Womens Champion and Queen of Southside Champion and she is best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Melina. Perez began her career as a beauty pageant contestant, winning several modelling competitions, in 2000, Perez be

Impact Wrestling
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Impact Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program produced by the Impact Wrestling promotion. The show, initially known as TNA Impact, debuted in the United States on Fox Sports Net on June 4,2004, where it remained until May 2005. First began airing episodes on Saturday nights, before moving to Thursday nights in April 2006. It brief

1.
Impact Wrestling

2.
The 2013-2014 Impact Wrestling set, introduced on March 14, 2013, the stage was since phased out in the summer of 2014.

3.
The set used in the Impact Zone March 13, 2015

Booker T (wrestler)
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Booker T. Huffman Jr. better known by his ring name Booker T, is an American retired professional wrestler and promoter, signed with WWE. He is also the owner and founder of the independent promotion Reality of Wrestling in Texas City, Booker is a six-time world champion, having won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship five times and WWEs World H

1.
Booker T in

2.
Booker at tribute to the troops.

3.
King Booker's signature pose.

4.
Booker T and Sharmell (left) in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

William Mueller
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William Theodore Mueller is an American professional wrestler best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment as Trevor Murdoch. He also wrestled as Stan Dupp, one of the kayfabe cousin stable The Dupps in Extreme Championship Wrestling, WWE, Mueller most recently wrestled for Ring Ka King, TNAs India-based promotion, as Roscoe Jackson. Mu

1.
Mueller as Trevor Murdoch during his time in WWE.

2.
Murdoch (left) with Lance Cade in 2005

3.
Murdoch (holding the belt) stirs-up his opponents prior to a tag-title match.

4.
Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch at NWA Showcase.

A.J. Styles
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Allen Neal Jones, best known by the ring name A. J. Styles, is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE on the SmackDown brand. Styles, who has long regarded as one of the worlds greatest professional wrestlers, is widely known for his tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from 2002–2013. While in TNA, Styles held the NWA World Heavyweigh

1.
Styles in 2014

2.
Styles with Matt Sydal at a ROH event in 2006

3.
Styles in 2005

4.
A.J. Styles at a TNA house show

TNA Television Championship
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The TNA Television Championship was a professional wrestling championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling professional wrestling promotion. It was introduced on the October 23,2008 episode of TNAs television program TNA Impact. as the TNA Legends Championship and it was later known as the TNA Global Championship and the TNA King of the

1.
The current TNA King of the Mountain Championship belt

Jenna Morasca
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Jenna Morasca is an American actress, former swimsuit model and American reality TV contestant who was the million-dollar grand prize winner of Survivor, The Amazon in 2003. In 2009 she worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, in 2011, Morasca and her then-boyfriend, fellow Survivor winner Ethan Zohn, participated in the 19th season of The Amazin

1.
Morasca at the Big Apple Comic Con in Manhattan, October 18, 2009.

Lucha Underground
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Lucha Underground is a professional wrestling promotion and serial drama television series owned and produced by the United Artists Media Group. AAA also owns a percentage of Lucha Underground, the series premiered with its first season on October 29,2014, that ran for 39 episodes. The second season of Lucha Underground started on January 27,2016,

1.
Lucha Underground

Cheerleader Melissa
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Melissa Anderson is an American professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Cheerleader Melissa. She is best known for her work in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and she is currently performing on the independent circuit for promotions such as Pro Wrestling Revolution and Shimmer Women Athletes, where she is a former two-time Shimmer Champ

1.
Anderson in August 2014

2.
Melissa using the Kudo Driver on Wesna during their 45 minute draw

3.
Melissa and MsChif had a lengthy rivalry and then formed a tag team

4.
Anderson as Raisha Saeed (left), Awesome Kong 's (right) manager

World Championship Wrestling
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WCW Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion, historically based in Atlanta, Georgia. Immediately after the buyout, the business was renamed the Universal Wrestling Corporation, WCW also developed a popular cruiserweight division. WCW eclipsed the WWF in popularity throughout the United States for much of the latter-1990s, however, num

1.
World Championship Wrestling Inc.

Brian Pillman
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Pillman created a legacy as The Loose Cannon, a wrestling gimmick that would see him do a series of worked shoots that would gain him a degree of infamy for his unpredictable character. He was also known for being extremely agile in the ring, Pillman was born on May 22,1962 to a Welsh mother named Mary and he had three sisters, two of them named An

1.
Pillman in 1995

Glossary of professional wrestling terms
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Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable nomenclature throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence of fans so as not to reveal the nature of the business. In recent years, widespread discussion on the Internet has popul

1.
The Shield performing a beat down on Kane

2.
The Fabulous Rougeaus performing a double team maneuver

3.
Kane (second left) as enforcer for the Authority

4.
Mike Rotunda used a tax collector gimmick as Irwin R. Schyster

Dorling Kindersley
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Dorling Kindersley is a British multinational publishing company specializing in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 62 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a publishing company jointly owned by Bertelsmann SE & Co. Bertelsmann owns 53% of the company and Pearson owns 47%, DK has offices in New York, Melbourne, London,

1.
Dorling Kindersley

2.
Dorling Kindersley's London office is at Shell Mex House, 80 Strand, a 1930s Art Deco building easily recognizable from the River Thames by its distinctive clock.